Stumbling in the Twilight
by Mole Rat Stew
Summary: The Lagoon Company fails to complete a job for Chang and the Hong Kong Triad, and the whole Lagoon Company is served retribution. Although who is dishing it out and why, nobody knows. RockxRevy, RockxEda, OCxRoanapur. Rated M for Black Lagoon reasons. Work in progress.
1. Chapter 1 The Lagoon Family at Rest

**Hi there**! This fanfiction takes place 4 months-ish after the events in the OVA Roberta's Blood Trail, which takes place after season 2 of the anime. If you have not seen that yet you should go watch it because there are juicy spoilers a-plenty in this fanfiction. I'm adding only one OC that I have pretty fleshed out already, he'll only be around for a few chapters and in the background in others. He will enter the story and exit, one way or another. I plan to include all the characters in the anime, but mostly the Lagoon Company. I own nothing and all credit goes to Rei Hiroe and all respective publishers of his works. This is a fanfiction and a transformative work that is not intended to infringe in any way on the original creator's and publishers' works. Rated M in case you missed it. **Thanks for reading.**

**Chapter 1 **The Lagoon Family at Rest

The Lagoon Company was returning to port with their tails between their legs after a job moving intel for the Hong Kong Triad went sour. Returning with a shot and unconscious Revy and Dutch sporting a new gunshot dressing just above the left shoulder.

Rock sat on the bow of the Lagoon as it idled towards the port of Roanapur, feet dangling over the sides with his cigarette resting between his lips, tie loosened and hanging around his neck. The rain had ended a good ten minutes prior to their arrival, giving way to a late afternoon heatwave.

Rock thought out loud, "If there is anything that could make that city look even remotely _nice, _I'd say the rain is the only thing that comes close."

Every time after a heavy rain, the city quiets down for a short while. Almost as if it's ashamed of what the rainfall hid from the world, or of what it might have washed away. He looked up at the mist rising up over the filthy streets of Roanapur, enjoying the relative quiet while it lasted.

As the Lagoon passed on by the Blind Buddha, Rock ran a hand through his hair and considered that he may now have more in common with the noose hanging on the bridge on the other side of the city. Especially now after all that has transpired since he first joined Lagoon Company. Rock exhaled a cloud of smoke and gazed into the mist rising up off the city once again.

"Almost like the blood and bile is evaporating right into the afternoon sun." He said.

Dutch had overheard Rock as he was climbing out of the top hatch of the Lagoon.

He spoke with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, "You know, I can see what you mean Rock. Back when you and Revy were helping Jane escape those bounty hunters, along with Eda and her _well thought out_ plan," He paused, checking his pockets for a lighter. "Benny and I were gunning it back into port, and he made a comment when he saw the building on fire. Before I saw what was going on, I joked, wondering if they finally dropped a nuke on Roanapur."

Rock raised a brow, turning his head in the direction of an approaching Dutch, who offered a Heireken beer to him. He took it, and held up his own lighter towards his boss.

Accepting the light in return, Dutch continued, "Some of these days we've had, and the jobs we've taken on, I start to think that's the only thing that could remedy this cesspool of a city. But when you think about it, I doubt that'll even do the job, it'd just turn into some dystopian, post-apocalyptic version of the same thing."

Rock let out a tired sigh and a sound of agreement in response.

"I wouldn't be bothered if one day the balance of power shifts in Roanapur, I'd rather have the likes of Balalaika on top of the pile instead of Mr. Chang. But I know I can trust him on his business dealings, he's never screwed me and that's really all that matters at the end of the day." Dutch said.

Rock was quick to reply to Dutch, "If I were in your shoes, I would prefer Balalaika too I suppose. Neither one makes for the most reassuring business deals, but knowing now how Balalaika is in your debt like she is, I'm with you there, even more so after that train wreck of a job we just had."

Dutch responded with his own tired sigh and a grunt of agreement.

The two sat and finished their cigarettes and beers silently, getting in as much relaxation as they could before the Lagoon pulled up to the company building and pier.

Dutch piped up as they closed in on the pier, "Heh you know that was sooome stunt you tried to pull with Mr. Chang back then Rock. I'm still surprised that Chang didn't have both your legs broken and leave you riddled with bullets.

Rock responded as they got up off the nose of the lagoon, "Yeah I still feel really sorry about that Dutch, it's like I was a man possessed, I guess I really went a litt.."

Dutch cut Rock off, "Nonsense Rock, don't apologize anymore for what you did, I really haven't got the patience for it right now."

Rock replied with a sheepish, "Okay."

"Besides, your ultimate goal might have fell through for you, but we got paid after the dust had settled, and that's really what matters to me and the rest of the company." Dutch said.

"Yeah, I guess we did, and that does count for something, but I get sick of those thugs running Roanapur, they don't understand just how deeply their own actions are affecting these people. I can't even help a stranger on the street, the people in this city are too afraid to accept help for even some of the simplest things."

"Ohhh I don't know about that Rock, those bosses understand very well what they are doing to these people, and boy I would forget about taking swings at the Roanapur hierarchy for a good long while." Dutch tossed his cigarette butt into the water. "Your luck and the position you have in this city really rely on one another. Both of those things are subject to change in some nasty ways every day you walk this city, you know that."

Rock replied, matter-of-factly, "Yeah that's very true. It makes me very thankful for Revy when she is around."

Dutch chuckled, "You ought to tell her that Rock, your falling on deaf ears here you know."

"Yeah, I really should, shouldn't I?"

The Lagoon Finally arrived at it's destination.

"Hey tie off the Lagoon to the dock, would you?" Dutch said.

"Got it." Rock tossed the inflatable boat fenders over the side of the Lagoon, and tied off two ropes to the pier and back to the boat, securing it in place.

Dutch continued, "I took this job hoping to get some better arms for the Lagoon without having any cash exchange hands and just look at where that got us. Chang had the deal lined up with the Rip Off Church, if this job went off without a hitch, I would have gotten some of the guns I've been lusting after to outfit the Lagoon. Not too different to how these old PT boats were armed during the second World War."

Rock replied, "You told me about that before we left Roanapur Dutch."

"I did? Huh, seemed to slip my mind. Well, I'm going to go in and help Benny get Revy out of the Lagoon, god help us if she's woken up from her nap." Dutch said.

Rock raised a brow as he made a suggestion, "Are you sure you got Revy taken care of? You got shot Dutch. I can help benny hoist her out of the Lagoon you know."

Dutch had a tinge of pain in his voice and a half smile when he replied, "I should be good Rock, I'm only missing a small hunk after all."

As Dutch went back down into the lagoon, Rock grabbed a wooden lid off an empty crate that was lying about. He laid it down across the gap between the Lagoon and dock, in anticipation of what came next.

"FUCK!" Dutch hollered.

Benny grumbled to his boss below deck, "I told you to send Rock down to help Dutch, you need to give that shoulder a rest. You know it's a through and through, but it's not from a pea shooter."

Dutch climbed out of the Lagoon, and then looked back down at Benny with a grin on his face.

"Shit I know. I just figured you needed the help getting Revy out of the Lagoon, seeing as you haven't lifted up a woman in a good while."

Benny replied with a smirk, "You know, it's unseemly when a big guy such as yourself yowls like a school girl when he gets shot. _I'm still_ trying to decide if it's a good or bad thing for company morale."

"Yeah yeah, uh huh, Rock grab a stretcher from the front cabin and get it ready for Revy up here, I'm going to go head up and pull the GTO around." Dutch said.

As Benny laid Revy back down across a cot below deck, Rock hustled towards the forward cargo hold to find said stretcher.

Dutch was halfway up the stairs to go in the office when he heard Benny shout from the Lagoon, "Make sure you redress that wound when you're up in the office Dutch! We don't need you fainting like a princess with all the stress you've been through!"

Dutch chuckled, and replied with a middle finger before disappearing up the stairwell.

Rock opened the bulkhead door inside the Lagoon, and offered the stretcher to Benny.

Rock smiled, "I found the stretcher Benny, you head topside with it, and I'll lift her up."

Benny understood, and quite liked the idea. "Gotcha, I wouldn't want to be the one holding her anyways, be just my luck she decides to wake up when I've got her draped over me."

After Revy was safely secured on the stretcher, Benny watched Rock with a grin. Rock was double checking the stretcher, checking Revy's bandaging, and her pulse again, for what seemed to be the 50th time on their return trip.

Benny teased, "You know you might accidentally choke her to death if you keep that up Rock."

Rock's hand recoiled, and he looked at Benny with a brief face of horror until he saw his co-worker's expression.

"I'm worried about her, she's been out a lot longer than she was when Roberta first came to town." Rock said, concerned.

"Something tells me that devil woman will wake up any moment now Rock, don't you worry about that."

Rock motioned for Benny to grab his end of the stretcher. "Yeah, well you better be careful Benny, she might be able to hear you." Rock said.

Benny replied, "I sure hope not."

The two men brought her across the gap between the Lagoon and the pier. Then walked her over, slowly, and laid her down onto the concrete portion of the pier where the car could pull up.

As he sat her down, Rock looked at her, and began to recall how his heart sank, how he wanted to scream, when Dutch radioed back saying Revy was down earlier in the day. The information sent a chill down his spine. That icy cold fear, that instinctual inkling of terror that manifests itself when something goes terribly wrong. The same exact feeling he got when Revy shot at him, and nearly killed him, when he was first brought aboard the Lagoon. That was when his new life, unbeknownst to him at the time, really began.

Rock had a realization.

_Looking back, it really does seem like a dream now._

Rock knew enough about how Revy behaved in combat, he knows she can handle herself and then some. Though he always gets a small chill running down his spine when she starts letting off shots. Sensing the rage, and borderline pleasure, that she gets out of gunning down her adversaries, it always makes him wonder, almost every time, what she had to go through in life to get the way she is. He's had some inklings though, and a solid hint when the plan with Garcia and the mini maid came to a close. He's been waiting, hoping that she'd really open herself up to him first, and trust him with parts of her past, regardless whether those parts are good or bad, before they have another falling out.

Rock contemplated for a bit.

_I guess it makes sense, that kind of demeanor and broken spirit comes from living in an evil home, with a sick or cruel family. No, not a home, home is absolutely the wrong word for an environment and upbringing that could twist someone's soul up like that. The kind of upbringing that teaches a person to respond to minor annoyances with hostility or violence, the kind that takes a toll on the person's view of the world and the people that inhabit it._

Rock stared out at the south China sea, as he remembered what he had said to her, while he tried to get her to back him up during the job with Garcia and Chang a few months back. He needed her help, and had begun to miss her company, like a part of him was vacant. It was all the excitement and the trepidation, the adrenaline too, that he had become so accustomed to, strangely enough.

He remembered, vividly, how he found himself running his gaze along her bent over form as she was scrounging about her fridge that day. He thought nothing could tear his eyes away as she was doing that, but it was the words she spoke to him made him come to. Rock knew he had convinced her to join him at that point, and that his plan would succeed now, or so he thought at the time. He told her that he needed her to be his gun, because he really was useless in a place like this, just like a bullet lying about, with no gun to fire it. Useless without her, in simpler terms.

Benny interrupted his daydream-like recollection by waving a fresh cigarette in front of his gaze.

"Helloo, Earth to Roock" Benny said.

Rock snatched the cigarette, "Where's Dutch? I figured he'd have the GTO down here already."

Dutch replied, "Right behind you."

"My bad Dutch, I had my head in the clouds." Rock said.

Dutch said, "Yeah, we noticed, we only had to say your name twenty times or so." He tossed the keys to Rock, who caught them instinctively.

Benny remarked, "And a few other names too, matter of fact."

Rock smiled. "You guys are the worst."

He kneeled down and lifted Revy up to load her into the backseat of the GTO.

Benny had already climbed into the backseat of the car. He took the opportunity to taunt Revy, as Rock carried her over. "Here comes the bride, _here _comes the bride." Producing a deep laugh out of Dutch, and an explicative from Rock.

Rock replied, "I swear, she'd castrate you if she could hear you Benny." Rock shuffled back into the driver's seat after getting her secured in the backseat. He started the GTO.

"I'm certain she would, that's why I'm saying it while she's unconscious."

Just then, a certain gloved hand reached up from the seat beside, and clamped itself around Benny's throat.

Revy growled, "Benny, I swear to fucking god… I will _cut it off, _if you keep up that fucking bullshit."

"OH MY GOD! You're awake!?

Revy replied with a squeeze. "YUP!"

Benny shrieked, "Sorry! I am so sorry Revy! You know we were just bullshitting right!? We were just bullshitting right Dutch!?"

Dutch replied through a mouthful of laughter, "Just bullshitting Revy!"

Even Rock got a good laugh out of it. He mashed the pedal to the floor, peeling out towards Hotel Moscow's mob doctor, with a hollering Benny, and fuming Revy in the backseat.

The Lagoon Company was about a kilometer from the mob doctor's apartment beside Hotel Moscow HQ, when Dutch spoke up, "Thanks for the heads up on the radio today Rock, I got a feeling we would have came back with a few more holes if you didn't call out those skiffs creeping on by. Your getting to be a much better lookout than I had anticipated."

"Thanks Dutch, yeah my senses out on the water might not be as sharp as the rest of you guys, but I'm getting there." Rock said.

Dutch continued, "Mhmm, and good work handling the Lagoon Benny, that torpedo was well timed and on target, I know I can trust you to handle the Lagoon well."

Benny replied, jokingly, "Damn right you can, and I'll say it was easy letting that thing go when it came down to it. It was either preserve my youthful innocence like good ol' Rock here, or keep the whole family together. I mean I gotta keep you alive after all, I need those paychecks for building my own terminator Dutch."

Rock tightened his tie a bit. "Hey I've made my contributions now, Dutch might be too proud to say it but I got a feeling the company has been making a lot more money since I've came onboard." Rock said.

"Well I can't say we were in dire straits before, but, you're not wrong there Rock." Dutch said.

Revy had her say on the matter, "What's gotten into you Dutch? Talking all sweet now, you gonna fucking die on us or something?"

Dutch leaned back into his seat and let out a groan. Rock glanced over and saw blood seeping through his bandages, it was dripping down his arm onto the GTO's upholstery.

"Oh, now that's not good." Rock said.

"What?" Came in unison from the backseat.

Not taking his eyes off the road, Rock motioned with a tip of his head towards Dutch and said, "Have a look for yourself, hang in there Dutch were not far from the doctor."

Benny saw the blood soaking in to the carpeted floor. Immediately, he piped up, "Oh, come on Dutch! I just got this thing cleaned last week!"

Revy teased, "HA! Look Dutch, your leaking!"

"Looks like someone didn't bother to replace their own gunshot dressing like they were told." Benny said.

Taking a shaky breath, Dutch spoke hoarsely, "Just hurry the fuck up and get me to the doc, I swear I'll fire you dickheads."

By the time the Lagoon Company pulled up to the building, Dutch had slipped unconscious. It took all three of the Lagoon Company to get their boss out of the GTO.

Revy pushed Dutch out of the passenger side and remarked, "One fucking bullet, Ha! Who would've guessed that's all it took!"

Rock shuffled around the GTO and lifted Dutch's upper half, carrying his limp body by wrapping his arms around his torso. "Balalaika's never going to let this down that's for sure, as soon as she hears about it, I'm sure she'll be right over."

Benny carried him by the legs, commenting, "I'm with Revy on this. Just one shot and the Boss is down for the count, who would've thought."

The group had almost reached the front doors, and almost lost their grip on Dutch twice. They managed not to drop him, but still had a couple close calls. Revy opened a door and held it open for them.

Rock said, "It's probably been a long time since Dutch has last been shot, if he ever has been hit before."

They were met by two doormen, who stopped them from continuing further. The guards held back hints of amusement on their faces.

Revy lost her nerve,_ "Ohhh nooo you don't..."_

**After** Dutch came to, and the doctor was finished treating both him and Revy, the Lagoon Company made their exit from the building. They walked back to the GTO parked on the street.

At the same time, Balalaika's motorcade came around the corner, stopping beside the GTO.

The back window rolled down on the fourth sedan that stopped. Balalaika, puffing a fresh cigar and sporting a wicked grin, cocked her head to the side as she eyed Dutch.

She teased, "Well _welll_, now that is a sight I never thought I'd see. Dutch, are we getting slow on the draw in our old age, _partner!?_"

Dutch massaged the bridge of his nose out of annoyance. "Not you too, man, I swear." He shook his head and sighed. "Go ahead and send me the bill for this, I'll see to it getting paid in full at the end of the month."

Balalaika let out a small laugh before she spoke, "Oh, _most_ certainly Dutch, you can be sure of that. And _my my_, I heard your men had to carry you in, is that right?"

"My soldiers told me it was quite the sight to see those two stumble their way into Doctor Anton's building with you." Balalaika laughed some more. "It's a crying shame I missed that, oh what a _sight_ that must have been."

"Your really got one sick sense of humor woman, is that all you came by for? To poke fun? I've got a call I need to make to Chang, so if you don't mind."

Dutch started to walk towards the GTO where the rest of Lagoon Company were waiting idly by, listening to the back and forth.

Balalaika spoke up, "_Dutch,_ I went ahead and told Chang the news at the meeting I just attended, since I got a call from one of my men at the front door here."

This information caused Dutch to stop immediately in his tracks.

She spoke dryly, "I got that call right in the middle of that meeting, actually." Balalaika laughed lightheartedly, but the expression on her face was dangerous. "They said something along the line Revy had a gun in Andrei's mouth, and one mashed in Mikhail's groin when they tried to stop your wounded party from entering."

Dutch warned, "_Revy_.." He scowled at his employee.

Revy waved it off. Before she turned to get into the GTO, she piped up, "Hey pardon me sis for getting a fucking bullet in my hip, I just _really_ wanted to get shot here and then have a nice chat with the goddamn doormen, give me a fucking break."

As Revy spoke, she thumbed down the side of her daisy dukes, showing Balalaika her wrapped lower abdomen.

Balalaika flashed a fake grin. She took a jab at Revy, "Oh, nice undergarments Revy! They _really_ seem to fit your personality."

Revy turned away and sneered, "Fuck off sis." She got into the GTO.

The back and forth with Revy changed Balalaika's violent expression to a polite and slightly amused one. She turned her attention back to Dutch.

Balalaika cooed to Dutch, "You know you're supposed to call ahead when you need to use our services Dutch, I can't have people appearing to get walk in treatment now, even if it is you _Mr. Lagoon_."

"Hence why I said you'll be paid in full Balalaika. Now if you don't mind, I need to be going back to the office."

Balalaika asked politely, "Oh but I do mind Dutch, come closer, I need to speak to you."

Dutch sighed, reluctantly walking over and leaning on her car.

Balalaika said, "Who got you Dutch? Do you expect it was Chang? Is that why you came to one of my own for treatment? I know you're not one to just _rely_ on others like that."

After blowing a cloud of smoke up at the towering man, she offered her own cigar, which Dutch took.

Dutch replied, "I really didn't want to lean on Chang after failing to follow through on our end with the business we were conducting for him. And to be honest, I don't trust that greasy bastard he said we could use if we ever come back in pieces. I got a suspicion we'd all end up in a fucking bowl of beef and rice if we went to that motherfucker."

He savored the cigar she gave him. "Damn, this's one of mine I delivered, isn't it." He commented.

Balalaika smiled a half grin at that. "I figured you sample your own cargo." She said.

"Quality assurance just so happens to be a company practice for some goods, mm damn, that's good."

Balalaika continued, "Well Dutch, I should tell you the meeting with Chang and the other apes got cut short, when I told him you were checked in to our good doctor."

"Is that so? Hmm."

Balalaika warned, "You should be careful of Chang Dutch, I know he's been straight with his dealings with you, but do remember, I've had a better track record with stable work, so maybe that's a sign."

Dutch replied, "Yeah that's not something I'll be forgetting any time soon, so don't go worrying about that."

Just then, the horn blared from the GTO parked nearby.

Revy shouted, "Would you hurry the fuck up! Jesus Christ are you two fucking tonguing eachother?! Come on Dutch, lets go get some food!"

She was hanging outside the passenger side window of the GTO trying to kick the horn again, with a disgruntled Rock trying to pull her back in the car.

Dutch said, "Sorry about that, she's going to be a handful these next few days, those painkillers really bring out the best in her."

"She's all bark and no bite when it comes to me Dutch, so no harm done."

Dutch asked, "Did you tell anyone else at the meet about us showing up here?"

Balalaika grinned wickedly. "No, like you Dutch, I often try to play my cards close to my chest."

He replied sarcastically, "And I'm one of them, yeah all right. I get it _Kapitan."_

Dutch had heard enough. He quit leaning on the car and began walking back over to the rest of Lagoon Company waiting in the GTO.

"Dutch, if you end up needing a hand dealing with anything related to the matter, _or anything else,_ you know I'm always a call away."

"Yeah I know you are, God forbid I need to, I'll call you next time."

As Dutch walked back to the company car, Balalaika caught Revy's eye.

Flashing another wicked grin, she shouted out the window of her sedan while her motorcade passed by, "Cyka blyat! Вам нужна морда!" Translates to: Whore bitch, you need a muzzle!

Revy produced two middle fingers, shouting back, "Go choke on your fucking potato water, fry face!"

"All right, can it Revy. Rock, let's get go grab some food, you can drive again. Benny, you get to soothe the bride in the backseat." Dutch said.

This caused Benny's face to turn a shade whiter in the rearview mirror.

Revy retorted, "Screw you Dutch." She changed seats and Dutch got in the car.

The group motored their way through town, now under the cover a dingy night sky and neon lights lining the streets. They were on their way to one of the few fast food joints in Roanapur. As to be expected, the line was longer than the great wall. This prompted the Lagoon crew to join the line and wait.

Upon returning to the Lagoon Company office, they all were exhausted and out of steam. The group sat down sprawled out in the main room, and ate what was left of their fast food in a tired silence.

After taking a long drag on her own cigarette, and exhaling a large cloud of smoke, Revy said, "What a fucking day." She passed around a new pack of smokes after her comment.

"Tell me about it. I can't say I was expecting that much heat while just moving some god damn intel." Dutch said, taking one and passing them on.

Revy said, "You're lucky you weren't on the job the first time we moved intel for him. Seriously, me and Rock moving intel?!" She paused to take the final bite of her cheeseburger and consume a greasy pinch of fries. She continued with a mouth full of food, "That was a disaster then, but this was much fucking worse."

"This is the second time we've had trouble on a job with Chang over intel, but this time we actually failed to make the delivery. Dutch, I think we ought to have a look at what's on this hard drive, considering the circumstances." Benny stated, concerned.

Dutch gave Benny a long hard look, weighing whether or not violating the agreement made with Boss Chang would be a good idea.

Already knowing the answer, Dutch spoke plainly, "Benny, you know we can't do that. I think we have to return it, seeing as how it never made it to its destination after all."

"I bet we could really get some valuable intel on the criminal dealings in Roanapur if we do though, and I'm fairly certain I can access the information without a leaving trace anyone even has." Benny said.

Rock piped up, "He has a point Dutch, I think it's a great idea. We could expand business using that information if that's what it turns out to be."

Rock spoke with a certain look on his face. A look that Dutch hadn't seen since Roberta's last rampage. It was a look that didn't set well with Dutch, a look of someone up to no good, an expression not commonly seen on Rock's face.

"I think you two dipshits should shut the fuck up and leave it up to Dutch, it's his choice to make… _but_ _that being said_, I'm interested too. I almost had my pelvis fucking blasted to pieces by those fuckwits on those shitty boats for this damn thing." Revy said, glaring at the hard drive.

"I'm just as interested in that hard drive as the rest of you, but you need to remember, we failed that job." Dutch said.

"Revy you and me barely made it out of there alive, and shit it was you Rock that noticed those skiffs were riding so low in the water cause of all the heavy artillery they had on board, artillery meant to _kill_ us." Dutch continued.

"So fucking what, we made it out _alive_ Dutch, so why the fuck not?" Revy said.

"Revy you know the implications if we do that, and really, all of you need to think about that while you curb your curiosity, _got it_?" Dutch stated.

"Okay." The group responded.

"Besides, what I was getting at is we really had a close fucking call today, and the last thing we need to do is violate an agreement with the Triad. Chang said we were to deliver the hard drive, and not to read it under_ any_ circumstances." Dutch said.

"Right, well in that case, I think I'm going to call it a night you guys, and you all should too, we've got more damage control to do tomorrow." Benny concluded with a yawn. He walked off to his room down the hall nearby.

"Yep I'm in agreement with Benny boy on that. Rock, you walk Revy back to her place tonight, ok?" Dutch said. Dutch began to make his way towards the hall to retire for the evening.

Rock was happy to oblige, even though he knew she'd be a handful in her current state. "Yeah sure thing." He looked over at Revy, whose hand twitched away from where it sat on her wound.

She wasn't having it, "Dutch, are you fucking serious? I can get home on my o.."

As she spoke, Dutch's posture changed, he turned, looked her square in the face, and cut her off. "Walk home with your god damn partner or don't get payed on the next job we do." He boomed.

"Geez alright alright, Christ Dutch, no need to go there, I'll walk with him." Revy said.

She looked away from Dutch, and over to Rock, who was busy retrieving a set of crutches out of the hallway closet for her.

Dutch joked, "Good, I'll see you two tomorrow afternoon then, we may have damage control to do but Benny needs his beauty sleep."

Benny broke out into laughter, and spoke up from his room, "You mean your beauty sleep, right princess!?"

Dutch replied, "I swear to god, I will dock your pay too if you keep that shit up Benny." He retreated down the hall to his own room, chuckling.

"Rock, I don't need those stupid things, I can still walk on my own,_ dipshit._" Revy spat.

Rock urged, "You won't be able to walk much longer if you don't listen to what the doctor told you Revy, you need to keep the weight off of your legs.. take one at least."

"Ugh, Fine. Give it here."

Donning the crutch on one side and Rock on the other, they made for the door together. The short walk from Lagoon HQ into town was a quiet one. When they reached the bridge, Rock adjusted his hold on her, forcing a blush to her face. Soon they were met with the usual sounds and smells of Roanapur nightlife. The scent of heavy drug use clung to their clothing on one street, putrid, rotting flesh accompanied them on the next. Screams, either cries for help or wild orgasms, could be heard coming from a nearby alleyway as they rounded one corner. A nasty stench of piss and sex wafted up to their noses as they continued onwards. The brothel across from Rowan's strip club wasn't very well maintained. The two walked on under the soft glow of the streetlights, taking their time, hearing the occasional gunshot in the distance.

**Revy** was grateful for Rock's company, knowing she could handle any issues with her cutlasses easily, it was times like these she appreciated Rock's presence regardless. He had a way of always being decent to her, even though he has his high functioning standards of morality he too often tries to hold her up against.

It was something that she had already accepted long ago, that she'd never get away from the shit stain cities and places she found herself in, so she would adapt, like she always had to. Roanapur had grown on her though, she didn't have to play nice to a single soul in a place like this. Revy felt her cutlasses bounce against her body every other step she took. They reminded her of one of the many reasons why she enjoyed where she was now in her life.

_These two nines, hmph. They sure have made me a lot of dough, and they'll make me a helluva lot more I'm sure of it._

God help those who get in her way, especially those who've tried and failed to best her in combat. As she thought about what had happened when she was shot and collapsed earlier in the day, it set her mind racing again. She heard Rock through the radio, he sounded panicked when he spoke.

Revy had a bit of a grey area in her memory, _Of course, I can't remember a damn thing he said, go figure._

Rock interrupted her train of thought, "We're here Revy."

"_Yeah,_ I didn't get shot in the face Rock, I can still see."

They entered her apartment building. Rock offered his help again, "Here, Let me help you up the stairs."

The novelty of his concern for her wore off quickly.

"This is fucking driving me nuts! I can walk on my own for fucks sake!"

Rock didn't relax his grip, rather, he helped her anyways, knowing she didn't have the energy to follow up her words with actions.

"You should know by now Revy, I'm not going anywhere, and you know I'm not going to shrink away from you like I used to."

Even as the fatigue caught up to her, hot anger flared up through it.

"Yeah, _I get it _Rock, save me this shit for another time ok? Your lucky I'm fucking disabled for the moment, or you'd be pulling my boot out your ass right now."

Revy fished around impatiently in her back pocket and found her key to her room, only to fumble it and drop it on the floor when she went to unlock her flat.

She palmed her forehead, shrieking, "Oh, _GOD DAMMIT!"_

Rock held onto her hand as he squatted down and grabbed the key. After unlocking her door and resuming his duty as her other crutch, he guided her into her room and over to her bed. He let out a small chuckle, knowing she was bound to run out of piss and vinegar soon.

He sat her down onto her bed and said, "Yeah your probably right Revy, I would be pulling your boot out my ass."

The fatigue from her close call was beginning to sap her remaining energy.

Revy replied breathily, "Yeah, you would be."

She proceeded to dress down until only her panties remained, as per her usual nightly attire, paying no mind to Rock standing nearby as she stripped. She let out a deep sigh of relief when she finally laid back, flat on her bed, feeling the cool sheets against her bare skin.

Rock had been speaking in that same calm and soothing manner ever since they left the doctor's office. The same way that he had back when he took care of her recovery after the job in Japan.

_That soothing tone, when he talks like that, it's so foreign and kind. So seriously out of place in this world I live in, like another language I don't know how to speak._

Rock came back over to her after starting the AC and killing the lights. He brought over a large glass of water from her fridge, a cold beer, and her bottle of pain pills. After he made her take the pain meds and drink all the water, Revy turned to lay on her good side, flaunting her nudity in an attempt to draw his gaze. She managed to make brief eye contact with Rock before he turned around and sat on the ground, leaning back into the bed.

_Too damn modest, as usual. It's not a crime to look Rock._

She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the AC drone on. Rock popped the cap off his beer using his belt buckle.

"I'm going to spend the night with you Revy, I want to make sure you don't have any issues, and that you keep up on your pain meds."

Her eyes shot open in the dark, a look of surprise flashed over her features briefly.

She stared at the back of Rock's head and replied, "I don't need a babysitter Rock, seriously, you can take your leave now _partner_."

"I'm not going anywhere _partner_, not now, not when your shot up like this. I don't think I could keep looking at you anymore if you had a limp in your step."

This earned Rock a smack upside the back of his head.

Rock spoke with a smile, "I deserved that one."

"Yeah you did, partner."

The two relaxed, though unable to sleep just yet, they simply enjoyed the silence for some time, together.

Revy blurted out a thought that crossed her mind, "You still kept the picture of that little yakuza schoolgirl in your wallet, didn't you."

"I thought we've been over that already Revy. That being said, yes, yes I did, I have it in my wallet right here."

Rock pulled out his wallet as he got up, holding it up for emphasis. He began emptying out his pockets onto the overturned beer crate she was using as a nightstand. His tie followed, and so did his shoes and pants, folded and set down neatly.

Sitting down on the ground next to her bed at eye level, Rock looked into her eyes as he spoke to her.

"Like I said then, and I'll tell you again, it's a good luck charm Revy, nothing less, nothing more."

She replied with a short, "Hmph."

She still had her doubts, she remembered how devastated Rock was after that ordeal.

Revy rolled onto her back and away from Rock, settling on other side of her bed. She stared at her shot up ceiling.

She muttered under her breath, "This is why it isn't fair."

"Hmm? Wha.. what isn't fair?" Rock asked, yawning. He spun around and faced her, making eye contact, refusing to let his eyes stray to where they shouldn't. Not that he didn't want to, Rock just figured he shouldn't get interested if he wanted to live to see his 30's.

As if someone had pressed a button, Revy was glaring at Rock from across the bed with that cold, soulless stare. The kind of expression you see on her face when she's either about to kill you, interrogate you, or berate you on another level.

Rock stared back at her with one of his best stoic expressions, all the while nursing a small tinge of fear in the back of his mind. Knowing she's in no condition to do anything, he still didn't like that look regardless. He didn't mind her topless body though, that certainly was not a problem. He thought he could get used to that image. His eyes had darted to her nude form for a split second.

Dropping the act immediately, Revy muttered sleepily, "If you don't wanna wake up tomorrow with a sore neck, you best get in bed and sleep next to me Rock."

This caused Rock to forgo his own expression and exhale a deep sigh of relief. That, in turn, made Revy to cut up in laughter, though it didn't last long. Her laughter tapered off into steady breathing as her day from hell had finally caught up with her. She found she had a hard time keeping her eyes open.

The last few things Revy was aware of before sleep took her, was a warm body easing its way onto her bed beside her, the blanket being pulled up to her neck, the smell of her favorite cigarettes, and the faint scent of Rock's cologne.

**END Chapter 1**

**There** we have it! My first chapter! I shot Dutch! I don't think that dude has ever been shot before, he's just too damn sharp, and I wanted to show the camaraderie that the Lagoon Company shares. What a strange way to do it right? When I first watched the OVA during that scene in her flat when Rock was getting Revy onboard with his plans, you can bet your ass I was yelling at the screen during the shower scene to get in there and give her something! I don't think I'm alone there, at least I hope not, heh. If you liked this fanfiction, give me all the feedbacks and questions. If you don't like it, or just don't like me, express yourself! If you want to criticize, ask questions big or small, suggest an edit, or just simply comment, please do! **Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2 Morning Glory Part 1

**Thank you** for the reviews! Now unfortunately, I'm not going to be setting a quota for chapter length, story length, or expected time for updates, as I need to focus on studying and work. I own nothing and all credit goes to Rei Hiroe and all respective publishers of his works. This is a fanfiction and a transformative work that is not intended to infringe in any way on the original creator's and publishers' works. Rated M in case you missed it.** Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 2 **Morning Glory Part 1

**Rock** was startled awake in the dark in the early hours of the morning, to the sound of an explosion in the distance. This didn't seem to cause Revy to stir even in the slightest, which brought Rock's attention to her.

She was pressed up against his side in her near completely nude form, with her arms wrapped around his right arm, head resting on his shoulder, and right leg draped over his. Rock turned a darker shade crimson when he realized her breasts were pressed into him. Blushing profusely in the dark, his attempt to shrink away from her embrace only earned him a tighter squeeze by Revy. She mumbled unintelligible curses under her breath and instinctually weaved her legs around his right leg, pressing her sex against his hip, tightening her hold on him.

This move made Rock forgo all the blushing, as the blood was running somewhere else instead. His thoughts were beginning to stray into forbidden territory.

_I wonder what that would've been like, if I joined her in that shower back then during Roberta's last rampage. What things would be like now, between us. Would it have made any difference?_ He pondered these things as he began to tent his boxers.

_A man can only be modest for so long. __It's almost become mesmerizing to see this woman fly about blasting away foes like she does. Leaping around with these legs…_

Rock used his free arm to slowly trace two fingers up Revy's scarred thigh, stopping at her hip when the bandages met his fingers.

Her leg seemed to have a mind of its own as it rubbed a path up across his groin and onto his lower abdomen. It brushed down over his hardening member, stopping to rest atop it.

Rock examined Revy's body from his position on the bed, taking his time as he eyed her head to toe. He savored the sight that he was sure could only happen in some twisted fantasy he had concocted on one of the many nights he's spent in Roanapur alone. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth, and tried hard to pry his eyes away from her.

That was when the snoring began. It was a kind of wheezing snore, grating on his ears like the sound of a big farm animal breathing heavy from stress.

This brought a soft smile to Rock's features, and brought his thoughts back down out of the clouds. Exercising a larger than usually needed amount of mental restraint, Rock remembered he needed to keep her at arm's length, physically, and emotionally if he can.

_She is an extremely volatile and dangerous woman after all._

He knew the risky game he was playing with Revy wouldn't end in his favor if he made even a single wrong step. He also knew it was sick to do this to her in the state she was in, awake or not. Seeing how she reacts to his modest and professional demeanor, he could only imagine how she might react if she woke up now, being felt up while wrapped around him, looking like a needy sex kitten.

_Her purr certainly doesn't match the picture, that's for sure._

Rock laid in bed with Revy for a good while longer, wearing a somber expression on his face, enjoying the creature comfort that he'll likely not get to share with her again.

Rock thought about how Revy had become his personal bodyguard while he goes about conducting business for the Lagoon Company.

_I guess I've really come to rely on her presence to make things go smoothly as can be. And what a fine sight she's been, working on the job. I can't say I've ever had a fellow co-worker that looks like this. She's saved my life numerous times and gotten me out of many incredibly dangerous situations too, gunning down enemies with her own self-taught dance of death._ _I'm afraid to say it to her, but I'm starting to have garner an appreciation for her killing skills_. _The monster I've always thought she was, well, I guess she seems to be less and less menacing as time goes on._

After carefully and slowly extracting himself from her grasp, so that he wouldn't wake her, Rock let himself into her bathroom and took a quick, cold shower. He finished up by rinsing his mouth with a bottle of mouthwash he grabbed out of a cardboard box that contained most of Revy's hygiene products.

_Wow, that is some strong mouthwash, now I swear I've used this brand before…_

It just so happened to be a brand of mouthwash with an unusually high 35% alcohol content. Rock realized it was the same bottle as the one at the Lagoon Company office. Just another one of the many products they've imported into Roanapur in the past few weeks, along with the usual guns and contraband.

Rock thought out loud, "Ah, yeah, makes sense."

Leaving the bathroom, walking into the main room of Revy's flat, Rock stole a glance at Revy's sleeping form. The blanket, snaked around her body, had slipped down off her waistline, and the outline of the early dawn light shined around the closed curtains above her bed. It cast a faint glow over her shapely body.

He mumbled, "If I had a type…"

Rock quietly scrounged around her cabinets in the main room, and found a dusty electric skillet. He decided that he would make some breakfast if he could find something remotely edible in her fridge. Not finding much anything of use, he finished dressing up and slipped out, taking a quick walk out to the nearest corner store where he knew he could get fresh eggs.

Letting himself back in quietly, and after stealing another glance at Revy, Rock began filling the hot skillet with cracked eggs, broken yolk. He found some salt and pepper shakers, and put some nearly stale bread in her toaster.

In a flash, Revy awoke in a start, throwing the blanket off and sitting up clasping her side with a panicked expression. Taking a gulp of air out of shock, she let out a guttural scream of pain. This caused Rock to fling the piece of fried egg he was flipping over, out the pan and onto the floor.

"AAWWWW FUCK! aww it HURTS!"

"Jeez Re.."

"GET ME A FUCKING DRINK RIGHT NOW ROCK! Oohhh Christ, MMMmmmm fuck fuck fuck FUUCK that hurrrts."

Revy clutched her wound, and curled up into a ball.

Rock approached with three prescription pain killers and a tall glass of water.

"Not a fucking glass of water YOU SHITHEAD! Get me some booze you _motherfucker,_ ooohhh oowwwh."

When she got no response, she opened her eyes, and looked over to see Rock standing at her bedside. He had a frown on his face, and in his two outstretched hands he held the same items. Mumbling more curses in between groans of pain, she took the pills and drank the water.

Rock stated, "You do know you can't mix booze with these Revy."

Revy snapped, barking at him with a threatening tone, "NOOO SHIT! _I fucking know_ _Rock_."

Luckily, Rock had prepared for this the night before, he knew he wouldn't be able to wake her up in the night and make her take the scheduled dose of pain meds. That idea might have ended up getting him shot. Instead, he had slipped out of bed after he was sure she was out cold, went downstairs for more water and ice, and made up some ice bags to put in the freezer. He anticipated something like this would happen.

Bringing three of them over to her, Rock looked her in the eye and said sternly, "One of these for your wound, one for your forehead, and one for the back of your neck."

Taking the ice, Revy retorted, "Oh, for FUCKS SAKE ROCK! What, do I need to call you _mommy_ now?"

"Thankyou works nicely, Revy."

"Fuck you." Revy snapped, defeatedly.

Rock returned after cleaning up the mess with some fried eggs on toast for Revy. The two took their time and ate in relative silence, except for an occasional hiss from Revy, still dealing with serious pain while she was eating.

Even though he was beginning to get fed up with her outbursts, Rock felt the need to do all he could.

"You need to change the dressing on your wound Revy, would you like some help?"

Revy sat up, holding the ice bags on her neck and forehead in place. She spoke with a pained deadpan expression on her face, "Yes mommy."

Rock grabbed what he needed from her closet. Sitting down behind her on the bed, he took the icepacks from her and set them on her nightstand. He started at the top, and began the tedious process of unwrapping the compression bandage that spanned across her lower back and abdomen.

Rock asked politely, "Arms up please."

Revy complied without a word.

Revy remarked, "These painkillers sure hit you fast… _whoa_."

She swayed a bit while she sat upright.

"It's about time, I was afraid the doctor gave you sugar pills for a while there."

"Definitely the real deal."

Rock said plainly, "Yeah I went ahead and gave you one extra."

He removed the gauze covering her budget surgery job.

"Ooo, _easy_ _Rock_, that shit still hurts when you do that, Fuck."

Revy blushed when Rock reached around her sides and continued unwrapping the compression bandage down to the top of her panties.

"Okay, panties off." Rock ordered.

He spoke in a tone of voice that was supposed to sound stern, but the words came out alittle meek instead.

"Ha! Don't get any ideas Rock, I'm not that easy you prick."

Rock replied, "I would never…"

"Oh shut up." Revy quipped.

She put her panties back on. Her face was in full blush, unbeknownst to Rock sitting behind her.

Rock began re-wrapping her wound, starting higher up than the doctor had thankfully. Revy tensed up slightly under his touch as he finished up the last pass, smoothing the end of the compression bandage over her navel with his hand. A reaction which she hoped Rock had not noticed.

Rock had noticed, he had noticed a lot more that he should have been while he was helping her out. He wanted to run his hands down her sides, and pull her back gently onto his chest, down onto the bed together and run his hands up her legs.

_Shit, this is bad, oh dear!_

A large case of morning glory was starting to come on again.

Rock nervously said, "Alright, all done!"

He got up quickly to clean up the makeshift kitchen he had going on her table.

"Fucks gotten into you Rock?" Revy asked with a raised brow.

He had his back to her as he worked.

"Nothing Revy. I just, I think we should call in to Dutch soon if you are up for it. You know, see what's going on after yesterday."

"Yeah I hate to say it but I'll be of little help if I can't walk let alone run. I'm gonna have to sit out whatever he's got goin on up the stream this time. Christ, I guess I'll be missing out on that paycheck after all." Revy stated, matter-of-factly.

_I bet she hates being like this, like some disgruntled helpless case._

"I'm sure he'll be fine with it, all things considered. The company needs its prize gunman at her best anyways, so that is a good thing you're going to take it slow Revy." Rock said.

Revy stretched her arms out and pulled open the drapes above her bed.

"I'll probably get a hard time if I don't show up or call in soon though. They'll probably be needing me to help smooth over the deal that fell through for those guns with the Rip-off Church and Chang." Rock said.

She replied, "I'm sure they've got things under control Rock, don't get your panties in a twist." Rock smiled at that.

Revy got up out of her bed and walked into her bathroom to wash her hair and get dressed. At the same time, Rock did some more house cleaning around her flat. After the two were done, they found themselves sitting across from one another at her table. Revy's wall mounted AC was screaming its guts out trying to keep up with the murky Roanapur heat, ever-rising, as noon drew closer.

Letting out a sigh and checking his watch, Rock said, "Well I better give them a call, it's already 11:30."

The main line was busy, as was Dutch's cell phone, so Rock sat and waited with Revy. Deciding that he would call again in two minutes.

**11:40 AM**

On main street Roanapur, a Japanese man with jet-black hair, dressed in a white dress shirt and slacks, got up from his table in a crowded Italian restaurant, leaving a decent tip for the staff.

This man had left a large laptop bag under his table, knowing well that the staff had seen it. Also knowing nobody would bother to bring it out to him in this disgusting, stinking, and evil city he'd been assigned to several days ago.

The right person will find it soon, the man figured.

This brought a smile to his face.

He took his time walking down the busy street. After crossing it, the man waded through a crowd of pedestrians and ducked into a cheap hotel.

**Meanwhile** at the Lagoon Company office…

Dutch sat on the couch in the main room, massaging his temples under his glasses.

"This shit is madness Benny, I swear to god. All this time we've spent calling around and we haven't got a single lead on those assholes. I don't like it."

Benny pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He sat off to the side of the main seating room, busy at his desk. He was scrolling through a forum on his desktop.

He replied, "Yeahh Dutch, I'm in the same boat with you there. I'm really starting to get a bit antsy, I checked everywhere I could on my end. All I could find that could even be _remotely_ related, after all the calls too, are these bullshit posts on a forum out of Taiwan about a shift in party politics, prostitution, and military strategy." Benny paused and scratched his head. "Just... nothing stands out."

Dutch said, "I highly doubt that has anything to do with our shit storm yesterday. Those guys slipped right under my nose. I saw them heading out the mouth of the river and thought nothing of it. Hell, one of the boats had nets on it hauling a catch of fish."

"Yeah I saw them on the instruments, I called it out, but I figured they were just a fishing party too. Huh, I suppose I wasn't wrong." Benny said.

"I should have seen that coming though, I've had that shit happen before back during 'Nam. Seriously, I should have seen that coming, Fuck man…" Dutch trailed off, remembering his close call in the Mekong Delta.

Benny said, "Well I guess they died hungry and we didn't, so the jokes on them in the end." He clicked his way onto another webpage. "We really haven't had any jobs go this bad in a while, and when one does go wrong, we're always able to get some scrap of info on our adversaries to go off of. Now that we can't, what do you think is the next best move Dutch?"

"Well, before we go there Benny, I'd say it's safe to say the blast we heard early this morning likely has nothing to do with those guys that ambushed us."

"Oh yeah?" Benny asked.

"Balalaika's conclusion came down to it being a bomb that Torchy sold to some Chinese guy. She said he kept going on cracked out of his mind, that it was that quiet fucker who doesn't fit in around this utopian moon base we cohabit in peacefully." Dutch said.

The two men got a good laugh in.

"Ha, what the hell." Benny said.

Dutch continued, "So basically, he thought it was Rock buying the bomb. Balalaika got a bit of amusement out of that herself."

Benny remarked, "Heh, yeah, give me whatever he's having."

Dutch agreed, "Yup, it'd be a cold day in hell if Rock ever fired a gun at his own will, let alone set off a bomb. Shit, I'm just glad we haven't gotten in a situation where we _really _needed another gunman yet."

Benny supposed, "I'm sure the day is coming."

Letting out a sigh, Dutch replied, "I thought it had yesterday, for a while there. That's why I want to get those damn guns for the Lagoon. An anti-tank rifle, RPG, and a bunch of small arms can only do so much."

He continued, "But you know, for Rock's sake Benny, I hope that day never comes. He's a good man, one of the few good ones here in this place. Though he can seriously do some damage in his own way. That shit he concocted back during the last rampage of the psycho maid, freaks me the fuck out, still, _to_ this day."

Benny stated, "Yeah he's definitely the resident wolf in sheep's clothing here in Roanapur, I just don't think he knows it yet."

Dutch said, "He's even had one of the main players in this city, Balalaika, lean on him and rely on him, and then he goes and directly insults her judgement, right to her face, yet he lives. One moment the man has got balls of steel, the next, he's shitting a brick. Sometimes I think those balls are bigger than his brain, but he makes his own paycheck and then some with his contributions, especially so after that payday from Chang. So it's safe to say he's a bonafide asset for business, even when we're in the low like we are now."

Benny shrugged his shoulders and teased the idea, "That he is. So how about that next move Dutch? Now I know you really don't want me to peek inside that hard drive, but we _miight just find a few_ _answeerrs..._" He eyed the hard drive that sat on the coffee table as he spoke.

"Ohh no you don't, we've been over that already Benny. Besides, I'm really just waiting on a response from Chang right now. I mean one would think the man would have called me back by now, or at least pick up his damn phone, that alone just doesn't bode well with me."

"Yep, I'm not liking it either boss."

"Well let's drink on it Benny boy, shall we?"

Dutch stood up and walked over to the fridge.

"Now that." Benny yawned and cracked his neck. "Sounds like a grand idea Dutch."

Benny shut down his work desktop, and rolled over to the seating area on his office chair.

Dutch asked Benny what brand he wanted and reached to the back of the fridge, grabbing four of the coldest ones. After turning around and tossing two towards Benny, Dutch kicked the fridge closed with the bottom of his boot as he started back towards the seating area.

At the exact moment the fridge door slammed closed, an explosion in the distance, sounding much like the one in the early morning, echoed throughout the port city of Roanapur.

Dutch looked down at his boot-clad foot. "Well shit."

Benny cracked one of his beers and spoke with a grin, "Uhhh, I _really_ hope those bombs aren't related to our situation, now that you mention it Dutch."

Cracking his own beer and downing half the can, Dutch replied, "Me too Benny boy, me too."

They sat and drank.

After several minutes the two spent lost in thought, Dutch spoke up, "Benny, give Praiyachat a call for me would ya? Put in a carry out order for some boxes of 9x19 Parabellum, one box of .44 Magnum hollow points, and two boxes of 3-inch magnum buckshot. Get a few 3-inch rifled hollow point slugs for me too, uhhh and three dozen 40mm grenades and two RPG rounds for Revy."

"Whoa, that's a lotta damage, alrighty, you got it boss." Benny replied.

He rolled back over in his office chair, to the phone sitting on the desk.

Benny said, "Can't really go through the Rip-off church since that deal fell through on the armaments for the Lagoon, can you."

"Nope, I got quite the talking to from Sister Yolanda about that. Damn, I wish Chang would pick up is phone. Oh, while you're at it, call Rock first and update him, he's probably over at Revy's apartment still. I got a feeling he spent the night with her." Dutch said, cracking a grin.

Benny chuckled. "You don't really believe that he's spent the night there, do you?"

"Oh I don't know about that Benny boy, come on, are you tellin' me you really didn't see the way he was looking at her the other night? He also hasn't called in sharp and early like he does."

Benny smiled and shook his head in disbelief while Dutch spoke.

"Yeah I saw, but I doubt he's spent the night with her, I know they're in to eachother, but even then, I just don't see them there yet."

Dutch challenged with a point of his finger, "Ten bucks says he's there right now."

Benny anted up, "Deal."

Dutch got up, talking while he grabbed another beer to go, "I'm going to call Sister Yolanda once more, try to smooth that deal over with her again. Chang only paid for half of the arms up front, he told her if we were to succeed in our delivery that he would pay the rest. She can't get ahold of him either, so she wasn't exactly sharing god's grace with me earlier. Then I should give Balalaika another ring, wouldn't be bad to ask if she was speaking in a plural sense when she told me about that bomb. Maybe something there, maybe not."

"Man I hope not." Benny said.

"Tell Rock I said he should stay with Revy, if there's a new terrorist in town who looks like him, it's best he stays off the streets for now. I'll be out running a checkup on the Lagoon if you need me."

Dutch whipped his cell out of his pocket. He walked towards the door that opened to the stairs leading down into the workshop.

Dutch paused before he met the door, and talked over his shoulder, "Oh, and Benny? It might just be my close call with death talking, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this little mess we've gotten into. So stay alert, and keep busy."

Benny understood. "I gotcha Dutch, I'll leave the window open here, I'll holler if something comes up." He stood and opened said window, one that overlooked the workshop below, that housed the Lagoon.

Dutch made his way down the stairs behind the door, cell phone to his ear. Benny picked up the landline and dialed Rock's number.

**12:01 PM**

The two were burning through a pack of cigarettes together, relaxing in the cool airflow that was pumping out of the AC.

Rock spoke up out of anxiousness, "They've probably been at it all morning, damn, I hope they aren't too pissed about me not showing up."

"Oh, _shut up_ Rock! They probably know you've been trying to get through to them. You've only tried calling six times already."

Rock's cell phone started ringing on the center of the table between them. He rushed to grab it, only to have Revy beat him to it. She snatched it up and flipped it open.

"Hello, and _FUUCK_ YOUU for sending this _dickhead_ home with me last night! I don't need a god damn suicide watch for fucks sake!"

She held Rock back with one arm. He kept trying to snatch his phone back.

"_Oh_ _reallly_? So he did stay the night, damn." Benny said.

Holding the phone away from his head, Benny leaned over and shouted out the window, "You were right Dutch! Where do you want those ten bucks?"

Dutch had the Lagoon out of the water and suspended midair. He was inspecting the hull of the Lagoon, on hold for sister Yolanda when he heard Benny holler from the window above.

Chuckling, Dutch boomed up at the window from down on the workshop floor, "I told you so Benny boy! Put that ten dollars in my Ardbeg fund!"

Looking at the phone in her hand with an outraged expression, Revy shouted, "GO FUCK YOURSELF BENNY! YOU MOTHE..."

Rock pried the phone out of Revy's grasp. She kept on trying to shout more profane threats at Benny though, regardless of who was holding the phone.

Holding his hand over the receiver, Rock sat on Revy's bed and spoke into his cell, "So what's the deal Benny? I've been trying to get through to one of you guys, I'm sorry I didn't call earlier in the morning."

Revy quieted down and joined Rock sitting on the bed, she pressed herself into his side, cocking her head closer to his, in order to eavesdrop. Rock felt her hair, which she had yet to put up into her signature ponytail, spread across the back of his hand that held the phone, and settle around him. The scent of her hair overwhelmed his senses.

Rock thought_, A feeling, a smell, a sensation, that I wouldn't mind getting used to._

"Heh, hey no problem Rock. Well, where to begin.. Dutch and I have been on and off the phones all morning making calls to all business and non-business contacts. I think he's on the phone with Sister Yolanda again, has been for awhile actually. She's pissed that we failed our job the other day cause Chang only paid half up front and would have paid the rest on completion, but we know how that went. We couldn't find a scrap of information on our attackers yesterday, which is not good at all. And Balalaika's been tracking the mad bomber that's on the loose apparently. And get this Rock, the guy is supposed to be Chinese, and he dresses the same as you."

Rock asked incredulously, "Really? Exactly like me?"

"I shit you not." Benny said.

"I heard another explosion a bit ago, it sounded like the one this morning. I had no idea the two were connected." Rock commented.

"Yeah that's what Dutch is going to find out, he's calling Balalaika too when he's done talking with the Rip-off Church. Really though, we're hoping those bombings aren't connected in any way to our attackers yesterday." Benny said.

Rock massaged his forehead nervously. "Yeah, I hope not."

"That isn't even the worst of it Rock."

Revy pressed her body alittle harder into Rock, inching her ear closer to his phone. Rock dreaded Benny's next words.

"Uhh from my perspective, I don't see what can be worse than what you've already told me Benny."

"Chang hasn't picked up his phone once when we've tried calling him. Not even when Dutch tried calling him using his cell."

Rock asked, "Dutch only calls the mob bosses on his cell during jobs and emergencies, right?"

"Yep. Me and Dutch are getting antsy over here, he's running a checkup on the Lagoon as we speak. I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to bug out of Roanapur for a short while. I'm all for it if he does, in fact, I'm putting in a suggestion for a company-wide vacation myself. This whole ordeal just doesn't set well." Benny said.

"No, no it doesn't, not one bit." Rock replied, worriedly. "Although that doesn't mean we should just high tail it out of here, we may be able to.."

Benny cut in, "Dutch ended up going with your plans last time because you gave him no choice Rock, remember what he told you back then, during Roberta's last rampage through here. Stick to the Lagoon Company policies or we are through with you. No more interfering with mob affairs in Roanapur Rock, whatever you were starting to think just now, do us a solid, and don't. Besides, you gave everyone quite the fright when you pulled that stunt."

Rock sighed as Benny told him what he already knew. He held his head low in his other hand as he listened.

"I know Benny, and I am sorry about that."

Benny said, "Hey it's all good now though, the payout at the end of that fiasco more than made up for it, really. You've been doing a fine job keeping things going smooth for the company ever since then, if you ask me. Dutch thinks so too, so don't stress it."

Deciding she'd heard enough, Revy got up and limped over to her fridge nearby, grabbing a bottle of diet cola to drink. Unaware the expiration date was well over a year, she twisted off the lid and began gulping it down, floating bits of gunk and all.

Rock saw the date printed under the bottle. He motioned to her not to drink it.

"Thank you, Benny. Is there anything else I need to know?"

She drank it anyways.

"Nope, that about sums it up. One hell of a predicament huh?" Benny said.

"Yeah, that's some mess, what can I do to help? I can be there at the office soon if you need me. Oh and I think Revy's gonna need some time off though, she's not exactly in fighting condition."

He noted the odd expression on Revy's face.

Benny replied, "That's not a problem at all, we both figured she wouldn't be. Also, the boss says you're to lay low for now, he's getting nervous, so I'd suggest taking his direction."

"Ok, will do. I definitely don't want to be mistaken for a serial bomber. So I guess just stay here and keep taking care of Revy?"

"For the thousandth fucking time Rock, I can take care.. UURRRPPFMM! MMM! MMMM!"

Holding back the vomit in her mouth, Revy stumbled into her bathroom to release her stomach's contents.

"Yeah speak of the devil, I'll catch you later Benny, thanks, uhh yeah, heh, you too, bye."

He hung up his phone and walked into the restroom behind her. Rock held her hair back as she continued to vomit, spit, and dry heave into the toilet.

"Revy, you had those sodas in there back when I first joined Lagoon Company. They were expired then, I think."

He helped her stand.

Revy warned, "_You don't say Rock."_

"Hey don't shoot the messenger Revy, here let me.."

_CLICK _went the hammer on Revy's cutlass.

She turned and pressed it into Rock's stomach, pinning him with a threatening gaze.

His eyes were wide from the surprise, ".. help you with your hair." Rock said, sheepishly.

Rock closed his eyes, took a breath, and calmly asked with a plain expression, "Where is your hair tie?"

Revy, holstering her cutlass, frowned as she stood in front of the cracked mirror above the sink. Rock stood behind her. She fingered a hair tie out of her back pocket, handing it off to him with her right hand, while putting most of her weight on the sink using her left arm.

Rock handled her hair gently, being careful not to pull all of it back behind her head into a ponytail, styling it exactly how she always wears it.

He left her bangs alone. They concealed her eyes in the mirror.

"Thanks." She said.

"Mhmm. You can handle the rest." Rock replied, plainly.

He looked away and walked out of the bathroom. Revy slammed the door right behind him, causing him to jump.

Rock eyed the door as he searched a pocket for a pack of cigarettes.

_I still can't decide if I'm beginning to like it when she's violent like that. Well, I guess it sure keeps me on my toes._

Rock's was sitting at her table smoking, when his cell rang in his pocket. Instinctively, he pulled it out and pressed talk, "Rokuro Okajima of the Lagoon Company, how can I help you today?"

"Rokoreo? Who the fuck? Hey! _You_ _dumb_ _motherfuckers,_ you gave me the wrong number! What? Nooo, he said is said name is Cockuroh or some fucking bullshit. Hey dipshit, what you say your name was again?"

Rock replied plainly, "Rokuro Okajima."

This wouldn't be the first time he's had to deal with a less than bright, two-bit criminal over the phone. This one sounded like a member of the Italian Mafia.

Rock listened to an argument through the phone, hearing more than one voice cussing out the guy on the phone for his stupidity. Eventually a different person took the phone away from the initial caller, by gunpoint it sounded like, to Rock's ears.

Rock heard what he thought was an older man with a thick Italian-American accent speak. "I apologize for our friend's poor attitude there buddy, I swear he means well, problem is he's just plain dumb as bricks, ya know?"

"No problem, I've dealt with worse customers."

_Why are the Italians are calling me out of the blue, and not the main office instead?_

"Right" The man cleared his throat and continued, "So If you could repeat your name again for me mister that would be great. Hey, you still there?"

As the man spoke, the hair on the back of Rock's neck stood up straight.

Realizing his mistake when he connected the dots, he spoke nervously into his phone, "Ahh sir I believe you got the wrong number.."

The man insisted. "Nooo, noo I don't believe I do, I'm certain I got this number from a very reliable source. Now If you'd be so kind, could you please repeat your name for me?"

"Rokuro Okajima."

He dreaded what the man would say next.

The man politely asked, "I don't suppose you go by Rock do you?"

Beginning to panic a bit, he gulped, and answered. "Uhhm, I've had people call me that."

"Ahh, now how should I put this.. Uhhh now I know this gonna sound odd so pardon me mister, you're the Chinese man who works for Lagoon Company _right_? You dress like some fuckin office _dickhead_ right?

"Uhhh.."

"You CHINK MOTHAFUCKAA! YOUR DEAD YOU HEAR ME?! I'M GONNA DRINK YOUR FUCKING BLOOD YOU LIMP DICKED PUSSY! YOU BLASTED AWAY MY FAMILY, SO WE'RE GONNA COME FUCKING MURDER YOU AND YOURS YA LITTLE FUCK!"

Rock heard what sounded like a room full of guys shouting, cheering the man on. Terrified, he hung up his cell before the man could continue further, and promptly dialed the Lagoon Company main line.

**12:20 PM**

Having already called Praiyachat, Benny sat back in his office chair with his feet up. He was drinking another beer while scouring the web for more leads, when the landline rang.

Snatching it up quick, in hopes it would be a callback, Benny spoke into the phone, "Lagoon Company main office, how can I help you?"

"WE'RE GONNA FUCKING MURD.."

"Wrong number." Benny said plainly, hanging up the phone.

The phone stayed silent for about six seconds, enough time for Benny to take two swigs of his beer and set it down. Picking it up when it rang again and holding away from his ear, the same screaming blared through the phone.

Benny hung it up again.

And again.

And again.

He reached his limit, when it rang again, he mashed talk on the handset.

Benny raised his voice, "Ohh here we go again. What in the _hell do you want you drunken fool_!?"

"Benny! It's Rock! I've been trying to get through to you, why'd you hang up on me!?" Rock asked, sounding panicked.

"Ohhhh, Ha! I'm sorry Rock, there's some drunk that was calling the main office screaming like a nutcase. You know, the usual wrong number."

Rock sounded quite upset. "Did he sound Italian?! The same guy called me and said he was going to kill us all! I answered my phone without thinking, shit!"

"Wait how'd they get your number Rock?"

"That doesn't matter right now Benny, they're going to attack the office!"

"Ok, damn, let me tell Dutch."

Benny stood up from his desk, and shuffled over to the window nearby, overlooking the shop below. Looking out onto the dock beside the Lagoon, that now sat in the water, he didn't see any sign of Dutch. What he did see, was two fishing boats floating in towards the Lagoon, flanking the company dock where she sat tied off to.

Two small fishing boats with four guys total. They were dressed like plain clothed civilian fishermen seen in the waters surrounding Roanapur. They were armed well. One of the two on the left was carrying a sawed-off M79 grenade launcher, with a fully loaded 40mm shell bandolier draped across his torso. The driver had what appeared to be an SKS-M slung over his shoulder.

The two guys in the boat on the right, who appeared to be either Taiwanese or Vietnamese, got out onto the pier. They began moving towards the Lagoon with their type 50 submachineguns raised.

Benny said, "Oh shit.."

Rock asked, "Are they already there?!"

"No, not them, oh shit, shitty shit shit, these look like those guys that attacked us yester.."

The driver shouted. "Lên đó!" Translates to: Up there!

A shot rang out. It shattered the open window above Benny's head, and the window behind him, across the room.

_CRACK! _Came a second round, just missing his head.

He dived for cover, ending up behind the mini fridge across the room.

"Benny! Are you okay?!"

Benny spoke into the phone, "Yeah still kicking, I'm gonna have to call you back Rock, stay put with Revy ok?!"

Benny hung up, and mumbled a small prayer as he sat shrunk up behind the mini fridge. A hail of bullets came ripping through the walls, one shattering the fluorescent lights that hung above the main room.

"SHIIIT!" Benny said in a panic.

Just then the shooting stopped, and Benny heard shouting.

"Có được người đàn ông da trắng lên đó, xem ra cho người đàn ông da đen quá, ông nguy hiểm một!" Shouted the driver of the boat on the left. Translates to: Get white man up there, watch out for black man too, he dangerous one!

Benny muttered to himself, crawling across the dimly lit room. "I think that's Vietnamese? That one sounds like the leader."

Benny heard two pairs of footsteps rushing up the stairs. He got up and stumbled over to the stairwell door, locking it. Although it just so happened to be at the same time the attackers reached the top of the stairs behind the door. They tried the knob just as his hand left it.

Hearing a bolt get cocked back open, a cold shot of terror ran up Benny's spine, he knew what was about to happen. He looked away from the door he stood in front of and gulped, closing his eyes and preparing himself.

Suddenly, Benny heard the loud report of three shots, coming from a certain Smith & Wesson 629, followed by a, _THUMP... BOOOOM!_

Miraculously, Benny heard the footsteps thunder back down the stairs, letting out a groan of relief, he scurried over and crouched, peering above the edge of the busted window. He saw a new hole in the roof of the workshop.

And then he saw Dutch, who emerged from the engine compartment of the Lagoon. Firing his 629 revolver three more times center mass, into the leader. He dropped his SKS onto the deck, without even getting off a shot. The leader clutched his body as he knelt defeated, and vomited blood onto the deck of the Lagoon. Dutch stepped over the body of the grenadier laying on the deck, who was missing the top of his skull, and grabbed the leader by the face with one hand.

Dutch looked the dying man in the eye as he held him up, and boomed, "You stepped foot on the _wrong_ fucking PT boat."

He walked over to the Lagoon's cab, and crushed the man's skull against the side of it. This produced an audible _CRUNCH! _That Benny could hear all the way up by the window.

Suddenly, Dutch dove into the water beside the Lagoon, narrowly avoiding the incoming fire of the last two henchmen.

_BRRT! BRRRRT! BRRT! BRRRRRRRT! _Was all that could be heard inside the walls of the Lagoon Company warehouse and office, as both of the henchmen sprayed the water, emptying magazine after magazine, hip firing their type 50 SMGs.

Benny saw bubbling coming from underneath the wooden pier, next to the Lagoon.

Thinking fast, Benny cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted at the two men, "HEY! ACTION MOVIE REJECTS, UP HERE!" He then dove back into cover behind the fridge, avoiding the rapid-fire rain of bullets that came ripping through the walls.

As soon as the gunfire was directed elsewhere, Dutch rose up slowly out of the water, nostrils flaring as he replenished his air, he aimed his 629 with an iron grip. Holding on to the side of the support beam under the pier, Dutch blasted four thundering shots at the backs of the gunmen.

The first round blasted the left arm of the skinny guy clean off, and the second shot entered through the back of his head, exploding his face from the inside out. The third and fourth shots ripped through the back and out the front of the other henchman's torso, leaving a large gore filled crater where his left lung and heart should've been. The two collapsed like ragdolls, blood gushing out of their missing parts onto the shop floor.

Benny shouted at him from the busted window above, "Dutch! We got a problem, you better get up here quick!"

Dutch shouted back, "Is there more coming?!"

He climbed up onto the Lagoon.

"YES! _Get up here_!" Benny shouted, clearly panicked.

Dutch reached down and grabbed his nickel plated 870, scooping it up from where he left it propped up inside the Lagoon below deck. With its carry sling attached, he slung it over his left shoulder, reloaded his 629, hopped onto the pier, and double timed it up to the office.

**END Chapter 2**

**I Figured** it was time for some action! Anyways, all of my chapters end up being edited heavily before posting, often while I write. I usually continue to edit a couple times more after posting. I apologize if there are a errors there Few and herE. I had to hack this one off, if I continued this action sequence and what happens after it, I'd be at 15 to 16,000 words for one chapter. I have authors notes for chapter three/pt.2 and beyond, that are a mile long. I also keep a spiral notebook with a ridiculous number of notes, chapter names, plot points, dialogue, and more. I fully intend to write this fanfiction to completion, but it will take quite some time. Part 2 will pick up right where I hacked this one off. I'll try to refrain from using this jarring method of chapter start/stop very often in the future, if I can help it. At least I ended it on a high note!

If you are wondering who Torchy is, if you blink during the OVA you'll miss him. He's the crackhead bomb maker that Revy interrogates when her and Rock are tracking down Roberta. _Beware_ the DoppleRock... He is not the OC if you're worried about that, and neither are any of the Italians. Doppelgängers _are_ a sign of bad luck though. I plan on pairing RockxEda, and RockxRevy down the road, but not yet. I look forward to writing Bao, that's another guy that just knows how the world works, but that still doesn't change his luck. **Thanks for reading.**

What I'm listening to while I write: Space Oddity (2015 Remaster) by David Bowie, Deep Fried Frenz by MF Doom, Duel Of The Iron Mic by GZA, It's Been a Long, Long Time by Kitty Kallen, and I Rep The West by Ice Cube.


	3. Chapter 3 Morning Glory Part 2

**Sorry** for the wait on part 2! **Thanks for Reading!**

**Chapter 3 **Morning Glory Part 2

_Thump thump thump!_

Dutch hollered, "Benny! Unlock the damn door!"

"Right! Sorry about that Dutch." Benny replied. He rushed over to unlock it and let Dutch inside.

"Yeah, I'd bust it down if I had to, but I don't want to do any more damage to the place if I can help it, repairs aren't cheap. Balalaika's insurance won't cover... God damn! They let you have it too didn't they? _Shit _man." Dutch said.

Dutch observed the sunlight beaming through the ventilated wall. Noting the shot-out lights, windows, and fridge.

"Oh _noo_, not the fridge too, Fuck! Oh wait, _ohhh no,_ _nonono ooh please no_..." He wandered over to check the shelf where his premium liquor sat in the main room.

Benny asked, "What is it?"

Dutch turned around to face Benny. The expression on his face was one of intense rage, his eye twitched, his fists clenched.

"Well what's the situation? _Where_ are these other guys you were talking about Benny boy?!"

"Uhh.."

Breaking his usual calm and controlled demeanor, Dutch shouted, "WHERE ARE THEY!"

Benny was shocked to see him so upset.

"UUHHH!" His nervousness increased with Dutch's anger, "They're uhhm, uhh the Italians are coming next! Rock called ahead to warn us, they got his number somehow, and threatened us, _they're coming,_ they'll be here any minute Dutch!"

Dutch replied_, "Goood, let them come_. Benny, get the pig out of the pen for me. I want to give them a heartfelt welcome."

Dutch stood with one hand on the shelf, looking at the destroyed liquor he cherished. He shook his head, feeling equal parts anger, disbelief, and disappointment.

"O-okay boss you got it."

Benny made his way across the room, and saw the broken bottles of Ardbeg liquor on the shelf as he passed by. Not a single bottle survived. He opened the utility closet in the hall, and pushed the clothes, mops, brooms, and other junk aside, revealing what was left of the Lagoon Company's workshop armory. Four shelves, three of them mostly barren, save for a few empty, or near empty boxes of pistol ammo, and a rusty .22 derringer that sat in a dirty ashtray. The fourth shelf on the bottom seated what Benny was looking for. Underneath a white cloth laid over it to keep the dust off, a clean & pristine Vietnam-era M60 machine gun sat ready and waiting.

Benny said, "Damn, that's an awkward son of a bitch to carry."

He handed the cumbersome weapon to Dutch, who had no problem handling it. He eyed it up and down with a gleeful expression, admiring every feature.

Dutch commented, "I got this baby from the Rip-off Church after that job Rock concocted came to an end. I figured it would come in handy on a rainy day like today."

Benny walked back to the closet.

"How many belts do you want?" Benny asked.

"All of them, Benny boy, all of them. I'm not losing my office again to some morons that can't shoot straight. And this time I'm here to do something about it, so I'd be hard pressed to pass up the opportunity to return the _warm _spirited sentiment." Dutch replied.

Benny returned with 20 something belts of 7.62x51mm ammo for the M60, totaling up close to 25,000 rounds.

"Dutch, you really love that scotch don't you."

"Mmhhmm, _yeah,_ I do. _One_ of those bottles are, or _were_, worth about as much as this M60. Well at least in Roanapur anyways. You've had some of my Ardbeg Benny, so don't tell me you can't understand to some degree."

"I mean I'm more of a beer guy myself Dutch, soo.."

Dutch chuckled. "_I knew it!_ A proper single malt, aged scotch, that tastes like a gift from god, it's wasted on you Benny boy! You haven't got the refined palate, like little old me. _Don't worry_, it'll develop in time."

He pulled the cocking handle back and returned it forward. Opening the top cover, Dutch loaded the first belt into the M60.

Benny was slowly getting more and more nervous as he watched Dutch link up shorter ammo belts into longer ones.

Benny asked, "Heh! Okay Dutch, I guess so. Well ahh what can I do now?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Dutch walked over to the coffee table where the hard drive sat, miraculously unharmed, and grabbed it. He walked back over to Benny, took his hand, and placed it in his employee's hand.

"Take it."

Benny was quite surprised. "What?!"

Dutch spoke in a serious tone, "If I die Benny, and that's a big _IF_, you can do what you want with that hard drive, that fucking thing is cursed. _And,_ whatever is left of the Lagoon Company after this next shit storm is yours too. This workshop, all the cash and assets we've got tucked away, the Lagoon, they're yours. Got me?"

Benny replied, wide eyed, "Wait you can't really be serious Dutch, what about Revy? She's been with you way lon.."

Dutch looked out at the Lagoon as he spoke, "I know that Benny, but all this time she's never bothered learning how to run & maintain the Black Lagoon like you have, and she doesn't know how to run the business side of things like you can. And Benny, take care of those two if it comes down to it, you guys might be my employees, but we're all one big alcoholic family. So just help em out, you know, keep them in work."

Benny's response was a saddened expression, and a quiet, "Okay Dutch, I will."

"Now go down to the Lagoon and grab the sawed-off grenade launcher and nades off that dead guy on the deck. Revy wouldn't mind having a new pocket cannon, and we need all the firepower we can get. And bring me Revy's M79 with her pouch of grenades too. You're gonna go and pick up Revy and Rock, and if I'm still alive by the time you get back, we're taking the Lagoon out for a nice and long, _motherfucking_ vacation." Dutch said.

"Okay, you got it boss."

Benny made his way down the stairs fast, hustling to grab the grenade launchers from the Lagoon.

When Dutch finished linking up the belts for his M60, he got three large stacks of US dollars out, to pay for the to-go order of munitions from Praiyachat. He placed them on the coffee table, along with the keys for the GTO. Shortly after, Benny hustled back up the stairs clutching the hard drive, 40mm grenades, and M79's with a white-knuckled death grip.

"Dutch, I'm ready to go, I got everything, I think." Benny said.

"Grab the keys and cash on the table before you go, we're gonna need that ammo soon. I'm down to a pocket full of shotgun shells and twelve rounds for my Smith & Wesson." Dutch said.

"I'll grab the take-out on the way there if I can." Benny said.

Benny stuffed the cash into the pockets of his cargo shorts.

"Get it on the way back Benny, and have Rock can go in and pay the guy. That new cashier there has been seeing more of him lately with Revy dragging him about on collection & delivery jobs like she was. He'll recognize him." Dutch said.

"Okay good call." Benny said.

Dutch threw spare belts of ammo over his shoulder.

"Call me if you end up seeing the Italians when you're on your way there Benny, _now go!"_

Benny took the stairs down to the GTO two at a time.

"I'm off then, _good luck!"_ Benny hollered.

Dutch took the short time he had left to think about the battle that was about to come to his doorstep.

**12:40 PM**

Benny secured the hard drive, cash, and M79 in the glove box, and laid the grenade bandolier in the backseat. Starting the GTO, he peeled out onto the road with his foot to the floor, hoping the deafening roar of the engine would drown out his frayed nerves.

He was just entering a side street in Roanapur when he reached into his pocket to grab his cell phone. He ended up dropping it on the passenger seat as he wracked the steering wheel hand over hand, forcing the GTO to roar and squeal her tires through another corner. Scooping it back up, Benny dialed Rock's number. He was just under a few kilometers away from Revy's apartment, and he figured it would be best to give them some sort of heads up beforehand.

At the same time Benny was dialing Rock's number, a black sedan with its windows all tinted out, came tearing around the same corner in Benny's rearview mirror. It was not very far behind him. Three more blacked out sedans and a grey SUV followed suit, all of them trailing close behind the lead sedan.

A mafia man stuck his upper torso out of the passenger side window, haphazardly wielding a Beretta 93R with one hand.

_BRRRAP! BRRRAP!_ _BRRRAP!_

The man fired off his machine pistol into the back of the GTO, shattering the rear window and ventilating the trunk with bullet holes.

This forced Benny to duck, losing his phone again. He then tapped the brakes, and wracked the wheel to the side and back, steering the roaring GTO into oncoming traffic.

Benny focused as he zipped past, weaving through the cars and motor rickshaws blaring their horns at him. He noticed in the rearview that the attackers had backed off considerably, but still held close at 10 or so car lengths. They were weaving and racing through the same oncoming traffic as he was, not skipping a beat.

Shifting down as he approached a busy market intersection, Benny slammed on the brakes, whipped the rear end of the GTO around in a tire squealing U turn, and mashed down the gas again. The GTO's engine roared, and the tires screamed. Benny charged towards the cars that were trailing him. The pursuers attempted to stop and block the intersection in order to trap the approaching muscle car, but it was too little too late.

Just as some of the doors opened on the cars, Benny blasted past the blockade through an opening between the right-most car and a storefront. Driving on the sidewalk, and taking out a pile of trash bags on the curb in the process. He shifted gears once he was past the roadblock, and kicked up a cloud of dust and trash, now thundering towards the outskirts of Roanapur.

Certain he had lost his pursuers, Benny fumbled his cell phone out of his pocket once more. While bounding over the poorly maintained back roads, he mashed Dutch's cell number into his own. He pulled off the road to turn around and head back into Roanapur.

Benny had finished making his turn, and had finished rolling down the windows when Dutch picked up.

"This is Dutch."

"Dutch, I got made on the way to Revy's apartment, I think I lost them though. The bastards shot up the rear of the GTO, but she's still rolling. You're gonna want to be on the lookout for five cars, a grey SUV, and four blacked out sedans."

Dutch spoke quietly, "Alright good lookin out Benny, yeah I've only seen one sedan so far, but I'm sure they'll all come _real soon_. Hey make sure you get Revy back here in one piece, she may not be able to walk, but she can still shoot."

He was lying in wait. He had opened all the windows on the company building, and had picked a good position that overlooked the road in both directions. Dutch decided to open up on the first sedan, he had the high ground. Kill or be killed, he figured.

_BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!_

Benny held the phone away from his ear as the machine gun fire blared right into his eardrum.

He replied, "Uhhh you got it boss, you can count on me, uhh please don't die.."

Dutch spoke to Benny in between bursts of machine gun fire, "_Bennyy boyy! If I die make sure you throw me overboard!" BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP! "With a bottle of Ardbeg in my hands alright?!" BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!_

Suddenly, a blast screamed through the tiny speaker in the phone, and the line went dead. And in the distance, Benny heard a bomb blast echo inland from the direction of the Lagoon Company office.

"SHIT! Dutch!?"

Benny looked at his cell with a shocked expression, wondering if that was the last thing he'd ever hear from his boss.

He then dialed Rock's number once again.

**1:00 PM**

Revy sat resting her head in her arms on the cool surface of her table, grinding her teeth in a slow boiling anger, while Rock slowly paced from one end of the room to the other. His senses and nerves were on high alert, as he was going over the conversation with Benny that was cut short in his head, replaying it over again and again. He was also remembering how close he came to losing Revy the other day, and how this situation might lead to that being an actuality soon, if he didn't come up with a plan of his own.

Unknowingly, Rock had been mumbling his plans out loud under his breath for the last ten minutes.

"I know the cab business is ran by the Italians behind closed doors, so that means I'd need to.."

Revy snapped. "_YOUUU! Need to shut the fuck up Rock_, and Sit. The. Fuck. Down."

She had drawn a cutlass on him, and was motioning over to the chair across the table with the business end of her piece.

"_You're getting on my fucking nerves_. I haven't got the stomach for your god damn mastermind bullshit _ANY FUCKING MORE ROCK!"_

As Revy said this, she didn't have her usual soulless killer expression on her face, instead her features depicted a wide-eyed horror, mixed with plenty of anger. Yet there was something else in her eyes that Rock couldn't place. Her hand quivered and shook slightly, as she tried to level the sights right between his eyes. Even though she was sitting down, she had to try hard to steady herself, and hold herself upright on the table with her left hand while she aimed.

_That gunshot must've really been worse than it looked, and to think she could keep all that pain inside on the car ride to the doctor, without even letting on it was so bad. That is amazing._

The look that flashed across her face in that moment though, that was what made Rock stop dead in his tracks. That unhinged and emotional, violent outburst, while he knew it was a sign of impending injury or death, he couldn't bring himself to get angry at her over it anymore. Imagining the horrific things that she had to endure to get the way she was, that has often been curbing his interest in trying so hard to correct her behavior lately.

He's seen that look in her eyes before, a look he still has yet to discern. He saw it briefly when she nearly shot him after the U-boat fiasco, and he saw it again before she kicked his ass after the job he forced Lagoon Company into a few months back. Although the look had only flashed through her eyes for a short moment then.

A recurring thought popped into Rock's head, _She might just simply love what she's become now. I mean, the woman really does seem to enjoy her line of work after all._

Rock was certain he had peeled back, or picked at another layer of the emotional shell she's wrapped herself in. Though this time he had done it unintentionally and at a very, very, bad time. He followed her demand, deciding it would be bad to defy her at a time when they both really needed to be level headed.

His expression was a calm and disarming one as he raised his hands slightly in a placating gesture. He walked back to the table and sat down slowly. He made sure to keep his hands visible and, on the table, with the hope that she would pick up on his non-threatening body language.

Her expression had shifted into one of unhinged rage, and Revy was practically growling by the time Rock was seated.

_Shit! this is bad, I'm not gonna be able to grab for her gun this time if she decides she's had enough of me! _

Rock bowed his head a little, and apologized, "Revy, _I am_ sorry."

His eyes began to show the fear that was building up inside. He began to break out into a nervous sweat.

Revy erupted again, _"Youuu told me Dutch said we're to stay fucking put where we are Rock, so WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!.. OOOooo... _oowwh _fuck."_

Revy's aim faltered, and her expression suddenly changed to a pained one. She looked down as she placed her cutlass on the table, and clutched her wound with both hands.

Her head hung low, and she spoke in a shaky and quiet tone, "Ahhh Rock, _mmmMMmm..._ _it hurts..." _

Rock stood and walked over to the fridge, immediately shrugging off his own nerves from the confrontation they just shared. He returned to her side with pain pills, water, and the ice bags from earlier.

He spoke calmly, "Here Revy, take these."

Revy took the pills without a word, and when she was done, Rock held offered a hand and helped her stand up. She wrapped an arm around his frame and he guided her over to the bed nearby. After laying her down, he grabbed the ice bags nearby, handing one to her for her head. Rock placed one gently on her wound, holding it in place himself as he sat on her bedside.

The two stayed there in that position for some time, neither one wanting to mention the situation beforehand. The faint sound of another bomb going off in the distance made Rock start to think down the same train of thought he had been earlier.

He remembered what Benny had told him earlier on the phone.

_I hate to admit it, but leaving Roanapur for a while sounds like a great idea right about now._

Rock's hand was still on the ice bag when his phone started to ring on the table. He took Revy's hand and placed it on the ice before he got up to answer. All of Rock's nerves had rushed back to him when he picked up on the third ring.

"Benny?! Are you guys okay?!"

Benny had to raise his voice over the sound of the roaring engine, "Rock! I'm on my way right now to pick you two up! I'll be there in five minutes or less, make sure Revy is ready to go by the time I'm there alright?!"

"Okay, we'll be out front!" Rock said, hanging up.

Rock pocketed his phone and Revy's pain meds. He then grabbed Revy's cutlass and tossed it to her.

"Revy! Catch."

Revy caught her piece with an unnatural grace, and holstered it as she sat up on the bed.

"Well? The fucks going on Rock? Did the Italians blow up the Lagoon or something?"

Rock replied as he got Revy's crutch out from underneath her bed, "Benny said he's on his way here, he'll be here in a couple of minutes. We need to get down to the entrance _now _Revy."

Revy said, "Well, so much for my oh so fucking peaceful day off."

Rock helped her off of her bed, and acted as her human crutch as the two made for the door. Revy hissed from time to time while she moved. By the time they made their way to the top of the stairs, Revy had decided she'd had enough once again.

Stopping before she took the first step down the stairs with Rock, Revy shrieked, "RRRRR GOD DAMMIT! I FUCKING HAAATE THIIS!"

She threw the crutch down the stairs, making a hole in the dingy drywall of the stairwell as it clattered and bounced down the steps.

Revy threateningly insisted, "_Rock, you're a good coworker, so you're going to be verrryy fucking collaborative, and carry me now, do you understand?"_

Revy wore the expression of a crazed killer as she spoke.

She then followed her request with a _CLICK_ of her cutlass, pressing it lightly into Rock's side.

Rock though the idea sounded good, so he feigned a scared expression.

"_Revy! _You don't have to make me do that at gunpoint. Please, just put your gun away." He said.

Revy holstered her cutlass, chuckling like a madwoman.

"Ohhh you really are something else Rock, and here I thought you really did grow a backboOOHH HEYY! What are you?! OW! _Easy!"_

"Just remember Revy, you asked for this." Rock said, as Revy protested.

Rock swept her legs out from under her, and lifted her up into a one-person arm carry as he descended down the steps cautiously. She wrapped her hands around his neck as he carried her, her bangs hiding her eyes as she continued to curse and complain into Rock's ear about his behavior. By the time the two had reached the bottom of the stairs, Revy had a light blush on her face.

Rock walked past the crutch and eyed the soda machine down the hall.

_Oh, now isn't that convenient._

He spoke with a slight smile, "Benny should be here any moment, would you like a soda to pass the time Revy?"

"Ohh _veryyy_ funny rock, like I _really_ need that shitty humor of yours right now." Revy grumbled.

Rock walked over and gently set Revy down onto her feet right next to the soda machine, so she could lean on it. He then fumbled with his wallet and fed some Bahts into the machine.

"Well? Take your pick, Revy. If you can't have alcohol, you better get some caffeine before you go losing your mind on me again."

Revy mashed the Classic Cola button on the panel twice.

"Don't start thinking that your gonna get me to quit drinking with this crap, _Mr. Japanese. _And you damn well deserved it earlier, you're an employee Rock, not some pseudo anti-crime boss _dipshit_. So quit tryin to act like one, _alright_?_"_

Rock spoke with a quiet and calm tone, "Uh-huh, _Okay_ _Revy_. But you can believe me when I say this; Roanapur would have much less to offer for me than it does already, if my trusty drinking partner suddenly gave up the bottle." He squatted down and grabbed the two cans of cola. "I fully intend to take you to the yellow flag, and buy you your own bottle of Bacardi when you've completed taking your prescription meds."

Rock stood, and handed her a soda.

"Uhhahh.." Revy had to shake off the stunned look and light blush that had crept onto her face. "Hey now! You ought to.."

_rrrRRRRT! HOOONK! HOOONK! ... HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!_

Revy cracked her soda.

"Well shit, there's our ride." She said.

_HOOOOOOOONK!_

Rock said, "We really need to go now, come on."

He was about to pick her up again.

_HOOOOOOOONK!_

_"I think I can walk on my own now_ Rro_oOOCK!... RRRrrr._._" _Revy growled.

Miraculously, Revy managed to keep her soda from spilling as she was scooped up. She carefully balanced it in her left hand while she bounced lightly in Rock's arms. She slung her right arm around his neck for more stability. As she was being hustled outside, Revy listened to his huffed breathing, and watched the strain in his neck and shoulders as he moved her quickly to the car. She began to feel something she hadn't felt for the longest time, something she could barely recognize... a small sensation_ of.._

_Ka-clunk._

Her moment of clarity was interrupted by the sound of the passenger side door opening on the GTO, and the sight of an angry looking Benny in the driver's seat.

Revy said, "What's got you so torqued Benny? Did you lose another _beloved _computer of yours?"

She shoved Rock in the backseat after she was set down next to the car.

Benny yelled, "For your information, _yes_, I actually _did_ lose another one Revy. I also just got off the phone with Rock and he said you would be out front when I got here! And look at my car!"

He pointed a hand back at the rear of the GTO for emphasis.

"What's the problem _Bennyy booyyy, _did daddy Dutch forget to give you allowance for another one?"

She cackled at her co-worker as sat down in the passenger side.

"_Actually!" _Benny unlocked and slammed open the glovebox. "He did give me an allowance."

Revy's eyes went wide when she saw what was inside.

"Whoah, _now that _is some serious dough, and what is this... _oooo_ _hoohoohoooo, now this looks like a fuunnn _time."

She grabbed it as soon as she saw it, and began admiring and inspecting it thoroughly. The sawed off M79.

Rock saw the hard drive sitting in the glove box as he sat in the back seat.

Rock asked, "Benny, is that the.."

"Yeah Rock, it is." Benny replied. He started the GTO.

"Now, we've got to drop by and pick up a take-out order from old man Praiyachat. Dutch had me place a large order of ammo and explosives earlier, in anticipation of this shit hitting the fan." Benny said.

"Boss man's always one step ahead of the world." Revy said.

Benny looked at Revy with a serious expression.

"I really hope so Revy, because if he isn't this time around, you can start by saying hello to your new boss."

Revy erupted in laughter, "_HAHAA! Now that is fucking hilarious, oh my god, Rock! _Did you hear what he just said?!"

She turned around to look at Rock, who had a grim expression on his face. Seeing that caused her to face forward again, and resume fondling her new grenade launcher. She muttered about how Rock _always _kills the mood somehow.

Rock caught Benny's eye in the rearview mirror, and a look of understanding flashed between the two men.

He then spoke up, "Revy, I don't think Benny was joking."

"_Oh really, _you don't say Rock." Revy replied, plainly.

She popped open the break action on the M79, clearly uninterested.

"When I left the office, Dutch seemed like he was getting ready for world war three. He had me help him get the M60 set up, and fetch your own personal grenade launcher for him to use Revy. It just so turns out that the first wave of guys to attack were a bunch of heavily armed, plain clothed, Vietnamese fisherman. They appeared to be the same guys that tried to take out you and Dutch the other day." Benny said.

"Not a whole lot to go on." She replied.

"Yeah, well at least from now on we can be sure of what our attackers look like, and who to give a wide berth on the water." Benny said.

While he bounced around in the back seat of the GTO as it roared through Roanapur, Rock found himself staring, with a deflated expression, at the 40mm grenades that sat beside him. He knew very well that he was likely to arrive at the scene of a bloodbath shortly, and witness Revy contribute to it.

After a few brief minutes, the GTO screeched to a stop outside of Praiyachat's back room gun shop. Rock got out of the car and went inside with all three of the large stacks of US dollars stuffed in his pockets. After banging on the sliding cage door for a what seemed like a minute straight, the cashier finally showed up and let Rock in.

The cashier silently took the tall stacks of USD from Rock, and tucked them behind the counter. He then nodded his head toward a large unmarked burlap sack that was laying up against the wall, behind Rock. After thanking the man, Rock hefted the bag outside like an oversized sack of groceries. As soon as it was loaded into the shot-up trunk, and Rock had gotten back into the GTO, the trio thundered back to the Lagoon Company HQ.

**1:25 PM**

The GTO turned slowly around the corner onto the road outside the Lagoon Company office.

Rock had already heard the gunfire long before he saw anything. He counted 20 something cars bunched up in the road ahead, with their occupants scattered throughout the firefight, all in the midst of what appeared to be a three-way gun battle. Most of the cars were riddled with bullet holes, some were on fire, and one was in pieces, like it had been popped like a balloon. Only scraps of the lower frame were left, and the surrounding pavement was charred black as night.

Rock saw what he thought was Balalaika's motorcade, far on the other end of the road. A road which had become a body-littered warzone. Rock counted them all, as the GTO idled past, and rolled over a few, of about 30+ bodies all over the road. Almost all of them were face down, appearing to have been shot in the back as they attempted to flee.

Another recurring thought that Rock has had before, popped into his head once more.

_I can't believe,_ _that in such a short time since I was last walking on this road with Revy, that all of this carnage can happen so fast. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I'm still in Roanapur after all_.

The GTO idled along slowly, inching ever-closer to the conflict.

Benny asked, "How are we going to do this Revy? Fast and loud? Or slow and steady?"

"Are you kidding?! Fast and loud_, dipshit! _Punch it!" Revy demanded.

She hung out the passenger side window of the car, un-holstering a cutlass.

Rock shrunk down lower into the backseat. He nervously said, "Ohh boy here we go again.."

Benny slammed on the accelerator, and the GTO's engine roared to life like a wild beast. It closed distance rapidly, thundering towards the still-raging gun battle.

_BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! _... _THUMP! ... BOOOOM!_

Revy shot a man crouched behind the front fender of a sedan with her cutlass. She then followed up her shots by firing the M79 at three men that were advancing towards the Lagoon Company building. She popped back in the car quickly, and tossed the grenade launcher back at Rock, who was laying pancake flat in the backseat so he didn't get shot.

Revy had her crazed, chaos loving grin on her face as she shouted, "Load me up Rock!"

_BLAM! BLAM! ... BLAM! BLAM!_ ... _BLAM!_ _BLAM!_

Revy had drawn her second cutlass, and was rapidly dispatching targets out in the open. Benny maintained the GTO's speed, weaving through the destroyed cars lining the road, expecting a hail of bullets to rip through them at any moment.

"Revy! Here!" Rock shouted.

He passed the stubby M79 up front to her.

"Gimme that!" She snatched the launcher from Rock's grasp.

_THUMP!_ ... _BOOOOM!_

Revy destroyed another car with the grenade launcher, blasting apart the occupants pressed up beside it who had used it as cover.

Of the few men that were still alive, most of them were distracted by the second exploding sedan. One after another dropped dead onto the cracked pavement, paying the ultimate price for losing their focus in the heat of a gun battle.

The GTO screeched to a stop next to Balalaika's motorcade, now on the correct side of the battle.

Revy was the first out of the car. She stood and leveled the sights of the shorty M79 on another group of attackers, but before she could fire, they dropped dead under the trained gunfire from Balalaika's men.

Benny got out and crouched in front of the GTO, putting most of the car between him and the incoming gunfire. He shouted towards the Russian crime boss, "Miss Balalaika! Where's Dutch!?"

Balalaika was pressed firmly up against the side of the Lagoon Company building, peeking and taking the occasional shot down the road with an SVDS. She responded by pointing a finger up at the office section of the building.

As if on que, Dutch popped up in a window overlooking the road. He shouldered his M60, and let off a thundering racket of machinegun fire.

_BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!_

Dutch swept the stream off gunfire over the road, burning through a couple hundred rounds of ammo. He cut down about ten more enemies with the aid of Balalaika's gunmen. They were firing their AKMs and Stechkins in semi auto and short bursts, forming a flanking formation as they fought with an unnatural efficiency. Rapidly and effectively pushing the Italian mafia further back into their defensive positions. The few that decided to flee up the road from which they came, all collapsed like ragdolls. Dead or dying next to their brothers who had tried and failed to run away earlier.

Rock watched the exchange with a heightened sense of terror, witnessing the gun battle lose it's steam, as the enemies were reduced to stragglers, and then as there were no more. The battle had suddenly taken on an eerie silence, and there wasn't a single sound. It was like someone had put the world around him on mute, and all he could hear was his own nervous breathing.

Rock stuck his head out the passenger side to get a better view. He then jumped out of fright when he saw Revy's face peering back up at him from below.

Revy spoke quietly, "Rock... It hurts.. even with the pain pills."

She sat, back propped up against the GTO's passenger side door, clutching her wound again. Rock quickly exited the car out of the driver's side, and was crouched down beside her in an instant.

"You need to bring your heart rate down Revy, and stop trying to walk on your own. Here, let me help you up."

Rock continued tending to Revy.

Meanwhile, Dutch made his way down the steps outside the office. Balalaika stood below him, watching him descend down the steps.

Balalaika teased, "Well that sure was exciting Dutch, and here I thought you were just a _boring old sailor_."

"I sincerely thank you Miss Balalaika, for the show of force here today. And while I do believe I could've handled that all singlehandedly, just fine on my lonesome," Dutch chuckled. "_I really do appreciate the assist_."

Balalaika smiled slyly at the man and replied, "Oh suurre cowboy, you had that one _well_ under control."

The two bosses slung their weapons onto each of their backs, and shook hands. Whether or not the two noticed they were standing in a large puddle of blood, and whether or not they cared, nobody paid it any mind.

Dutch spoke to the rest of the Lagoon Company, "Rock, Benny, Revy, you guys go and collect the guns and ammo, any valuables, and all the cash you can find off of the bodies. We owe Miss Balalaika for this, and a good way to start paying her back is by dividing up the spoils of our little victory here."

Balalaika translated part of that into Russian, Хорошие рабочие люди! Ни один из вас вниз, это то, что я хотел бы видеть! В то время как наши союзники собирают богатства наших врагов для нас, чтобы наслаждаться, радоваться! Все вы будете хорошо пить сегодня вечером!

Her men erupted in a short cheer after she spoke. Translates to: Good work men! Not a single one of you down, that is what I like to see! While our allies collect the riches of our enemies for us to enjoy, rejoice! All of you will drink well tonight!

Revy piped up, "You can't be serious Dutch, we should fucking keep all of them! After all we're the ones wh.."

Dutch sighed before he interrupted her, "Revy! Christ, just shut up and go do it, help load the Lagoon or something. Rock, make sure you help her down into the Lagoon. I got dibs on the two vintage 1918 Berettas off the guys by the other entrance, tuck them away in the Lagoon's cargo hold when you find em Benny."

Balalaika chimed in, "_Ah Ah Ahhh, Dutch_, I think I'll be having one of those for myself."

Dutch teased, "Okay, _so you do_ have a taste for vintage firearms then."

"Oh, _now Dutch_, I have half a mind to be offended by that statement." Balalaika warned.

The two continued on talking while Benny and Rock grabbed a few guns to take over to the lagoon. Rock was acting as Revy's human crutch again as they began to make their way off of the road and towards the wooden pier. Though before they made their way there, almost out of instinct, everyone stopped and tensed up. Revy sensed it sooner, she had already drawn her cutlass with her free hand, racking the slide with her teeth.

A final black sedan approached the scene slowly from the same direction the GTO had come. This caused almost everyone to shoulder their guns again, and aim at the approaching vehicle.

Out stepped the current sitting Italian crime boss in Roanapur, a man known as Ronnie, or, "The Jaws," depending on who you asked.

He got out the back of the sedan, and ran both of his hands through his hair, teetering on the edge of his sanity as he looked around at the carnage. He walked closer with his 4-man escort, who were armed with shotguns and handguns, though none of them dared to raise a gun.

Ronnie was nearly frothing at the mouth when he spoke, crazed,_ "Balalaika! WHAT IS THIS?! What, do you think you can do this shit and not have a.."_

Balalaika asked exhaustedly, "Dutch, would you please?"

Dutch roared, "_SHUT THE FUCK,_ UUP!"

_BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP!BRAP! BRRRRT! BRAK!BRAK!BRAK!BRAK! BLAM! BLAM!_

Ronnie and his entourage were blasted into bits before they even hit the ground, with some limbs shot off, and heads exploding into bits, as Dutch opened fire. So did everyone else in the vicinity, aside from Benny, Rock, and Balalaika. All that was left where him and his men once stood, was a blood-soaked pile of gore and body parts.

Balalaika looked at the pile of gore as she spoke to Dutch, "Roanapur has been awfully crowded with him around. So in a strange way, I guess I need to thank you Dutch. You helped resolve that matter, and with such _rapid and direct_ means, so thank you!" A wicked laugh followed her words.

"Hey they damn near destroyed my place of business, I'll be damned if I just let them try and take my life, or worse, destroy the Lagoon. That brings me to another point, my place of business. Uhhh, I don't suppose your standard insurance plan covers premium liquor by any chance now, does it?" Dutch asked.

The two bosses talked amongst themselves as Benny and Rock combed over the corpses of the nearly 90 dead attackers. They sorted and piled up guns, a few hand grenades, jewelry, cash, and spare ammunition into the GTO, and into the trunk of Balalaika's sedan. The two men held back vomit as they looted the corpses. Some of the bodies had caught fire, while others were barely recognizable. Revy sat in the driver's seat of the GTO, criticizing and teasing both Benny and Rock each time they loaded valuables into the car.

As he worked, Rock realized it was the bodies that were killed on the spot, dead before they hit the ground, those bothered him the most. Fortunately they were the most clean to work with, usually just lying limp in a pool of their own blood. It was the looks of terror, excruciating pain, or fear, frozen on some their faces. Those looks, the expressions that the dead around him wore, Rock had worn those looks on his own face, more often than he'd care to admit.

Once they were done, Revy drove them down a short gravel road alongside the building, around to the pier. After being helped inside the Lagoon by Rock, Revy stacked the guns inside of some wooden crates below deck as they were passed down to her. The three worked as a team with Benny handing them across the gap to Rock, who then walked over and handed them down to Revy.

Revy inspected most of the guns as she tucked them away, noticing that most of them were WW2 vintage. There were six M1 carbines, two M1 Garand rifles, seven Beretta Model 38 submachineguns, three Ithaca 37 pump shotguns, five M3 Grease guns, seven M1A1 Thompson SMGs, three 1921 Thompson SMGs, and a large nylon bag full of 30 something handguns from various manufacturers. There were some modern machine pistols and assault rifles as well. And then there was the WW1 vintage 1918 Beretta submachinegun, the bag of ammo and explosives from Praiyachat, the hard drive, and the guns from the fishermen who attacked beforehand. After it was all said and done, Revy was exhausted and in pain. She knew she needed rest.

"I'm tanked, I'll be in my cot until we leave." Revy said.

Rock asked politely, "Alright Revy, can I get you anything while I'm up here?" Rock looked down the hatch from above deck.

Revy replied with a middle finger, "Nooo Rock, I'm fine, so fuck off." She walked out of eyesight, off towards the forward cargo hold.

Rock found this amusing.

_Okay, back to our work relationship when the others are around. I see how it is Revy._

"Cheery, as usual." Benny said.

Rock replied, "Yeah, I guess so."

Benny changed the subject, "Well now that we're done with that, I'm going to go ahead and scavenge what I can out of the bedrooms and office upstairs, clear out the safe, and finish loading up the lagoon with the basics, won't take me but a moment. Hey, head up and let Dutch know we're ready to leave port."

"Ok, will do."

Rock walked back up around the building and approached his two employers from behind. He took a moment to eavesdrop the tail end of Balalaika's conversation with Dutch.

"You should know already Dutch, I always deal with the local authorities ahead of time, _so all that's left now..._ is a _long_ and _tiresome _discussion about this unfortunate mess."

Dutch replied, "Yeah, well, I'm taking the Lagoon and everyone out to sea for awhile. We're gonna stay out at sea as long as we need to, and maybe do a couple odd jobs while we plot our next move."

Deciding he didn't care to hear more, Rock walked closer and spoke up, "Sorry to interrupt you two, Dutch, we're all ready to go, Benny's almost done prepping the Lagoon."

"Alright, Balalaika, thank you again." Dutch said. He shook her hand once more.

"Most certainly Dutch, I'll call you when I have another job for you."

As the two men walked back down around the buidling to the pier, Dutch handed Rock the M60. They were commenting about how damn awkward it was to carry, and how damn loud it was compared to Revy's handguns.

Balalaika had one more thing to say, "Oh and Rock?"

The two men turned around and looked up at Balalaika, who was standing on the edge of the road above them.

She continued, "Take good care of two hands, it would be a shame if Roanapur was to lose one of it's finest gunmen. Now, you all go and enjoy your little vacation, _Goodbye!"_

Balalaika turned and gave them a small wave as she walked back to her motorcade.

Rock replied as she walked away, "Uhh I will, _thanks_!"

Rock turned and looked at Dutch. His boss had pulled out a lighter and held out two premium cigarettes for Rock.

Dutch said, "Let's get, _the fuck_ out of here. Am I right?"

Rock took both the cigarettes, accepted the light, and let out an exhausted chuckle.

"Honestly, I couldn't agree more Dutch."

**END Chapter 3 **

**Benny **and Dutch are going to be fading back into the background character group way more, as Revy recovers. I'm going to be writing this fanfiction more around Rock if I can, as well as introducing my OC soon-ish. I have the next chapter sort of in progress, and another in the stew pot. Would you guys like shorter chapters? Longer chapters? I'm new to writing fanfictions, or any semblance of a story for that matter. This is my first attempt at writing anything at all, so I guess all I can say is: **Thanks for Reading!**

What I'm listening to while I write: My Body by LSG, Do G's Get To Go To Heaven? by Richie Rich, Night Moves by Bob Seger, Hot Sunny Day by Celly Cel, Fascination (2016 Remaster) by David Bowie, and All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix. Jimi burned that sound into the pages of history. If I had to pick a song to mow down hordes of mobsters with an M60, at a boathouse just outside of a place like Roanapur, _that song._ That is what I'd have playing.


	4. Chapter 4 What Makes A Good Man

**Well **I'll be writing this story a bit different from here on out. I'm having a hard time writing the thoughts of the characters, I feel like I need to choose a perspective, or character, or something, and stick to it. I'm going to try writing _thoughts in Italics _as well, to help differentiate between regular narrative, _thoughts,_ and "dialogue." Something I should've been doing from the start I think, but hey, it's my first time! I'll go back in and edit some more on chapters 1-3 soon. Anyways, if you don't like my changes, or you think I should drink bleach, let me know with some feedback! **Thanks** **for reading!**

**Chapter 4** What Makes a Good Man

The Black Lagoon and her crew were nearing the end of a solid week of constant jobs out at sea, and everyone aboard was antsy to return to Roanapur. With Revy only slightly recovered from her injury, and the repair job on the Lagoon Company building nearing completion, they all were ready for some R&R on solid ground.

Rock tried to count how many times he's sat on the bow, smoking like he was now, watching the Blind Buddha come into his tired line of sight, and exit it. He wore an exhausted expression on his face as he stared once again, at the city he's grown to love and hate, slowly come closer and closer.

His thoughts then worked their way towards the possible reasons why they've been working so hard for a straight week, and not actually taking that so-called vacation. He came to his first conclusion.

_The amount of jobs we've been doing... I'm starting to wonder if Dutch actually got the cheapest insurance money can buy._

Rock scratched his head as he thought out loud. "We've been running in and out of Roanapur, and all around the South China Sea for a whole week. I bet he's trying to scrape up the rest of the dough for those deck mounted guns."

Revy stepped out from the shadow cast by the Lagoon's cab, where she had stood watching Rock for some time.

She let out an exaggerated sigh, "_Yeah, that's a great theory_, professor Rokuro. So fucking what if he is?! Do you got a problem with us having more firepower? Mr. pacifist."

Rock turned and looked over his shoulder from where he sat. His gaze met her eyes as he spoke to her, "It's not really my place to make those decisions, so no, I don't have a problem with it Revy."

Revy slowly walked over to Rock. She was uneasy, now being officially back on her feet.

She said, "Well look at you, all knowing your place now like a good doggie."

Rock had no response for her, he just faced forward and continued to stare off into the distance, exhaling smoke. This prompted Revy to walk up and stand behind him, and pat him lightly on the head like a dog.

Trying to be funny, Rock let out a meek sounding, "Woof woof."

The patting stopped, and Rock turned around to see Revy's reaction.

She had a hand on her wound, and was looking at him with a smile on her face. Her hair whipped around in the air that flowed over the Lagoon, as it changed direction while idling along. The sun was now shining behind her, and Rock took a brief moment to capture that image in his mind. The smile that was on her face was a genuine one.

How Rock knew this? It was the same smile he gets when he offers to go out drinking with her. No hints of impending violence, no twisted expression accompanying it. It was a warm smile, the kind Rock likes to see on her face. One of the main reasons that he goes to the Yellow Flag with her so often, is to elicit that kind of reaction, and to simply make her happy.

_The woman does love to drink_.

Revy dropped the smile. "You're getting better with the jokes Rock, though, you_ really_ ought to stay away from anything that requires _you know_... A man's voice?"

Rolling his eyes, Rock turned around and watched as the Lagoon Company Building came closer.

Revy continued her light patting on his head, standing close behind him.

Rock mumbled under his breath, "Well at least I can still walk straight."

Outraged, Revy shouted, "EXCUSE ME?!"

Revy then proceeded to pat Rock on the top of his head again, though it was much harder, and with a balled fist. She began another one of her verbal assaults, arms flailing in the air as she screamed him out.

Dutch sat at the controls of the Lagoon. He had seen some of their exchanges on the bow of the Lagoon before, but this one made him wonder.

Dutch spoke over his shoulder, "Benny boy, I want to place another bet."

Benny wheeled over to better hear Dutch, "What is it?" He said.

"Well first, you got to come get a look at this."

Benny stood and left his room, wandered over, and looked through the window to see what was unfolding.

Benny said, "Did we miss something Dutch? They really do look like a happy couple right now."

Dutch replied, "I don't think we have, but I bet you this is a continuation of whatever went on at Revy's apartment."

Benny asked, "Do you think they did the deed?"

"Noo, I doubt it. Rock wouldn't risk injuring her, and as you can see, she's recovering quite fast. Whoah, ha! I think it's gonna happen soon though!" Dutch chuckled, seeing Revy go ballistic on Rock.

Benny pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, He proposed a bet, "You know, I think you might be right this time Dutch. Twenty dollars says this week it happens."

Dutch scratched where his glasses sat perched on his ears. "Okay, I'll match that bet, but mine's on next week."

After Revy finished her outburst, she came back down below deck. Her hands were twitching, and she had a murderous expression on her face. She was still very furious over Rock's comment, and neither Benny nor Dutch dared even a glance at her. She stormed off to her cot, growling under her breath.

Dutch noticed the fuel gauge was quite low, so he pointed the Lagoon in the direction of their refueling station. It wasn't far from the company building. It was a large capsized ship, washed up partially onto the shore, overgrown with plant and sea matter. Quite similar to the one they launched off when they took on the attack chopper. It was considerably smaller than that ship, but it was nearby, and it had become the perfect place to keep their fuel stocks hidden.

If you've spent any time in a place like Roanapur, you'll quickly learn one of the many harsh realities; if it isn't locked up, or nailed down, you might as well put up neon lights that spell out steal me. It may be that way in most big cities, but Roanapur had a special case of that. Dutch never fills the main fuel storage at the Lagoon building unless he knows he'll be mostly on land for over a couple months.

Dutch spoke into his earpiece, "Time to roll up those white-collar sleeves Rock, it's your turn filling her up today."

Rock heard him clearly in his own earpiece. "Alright, I'm on it." He replied.

He got up and walked towards the Lagoon's engine room. After climbing down inside, Rock walked through to the forward cargo hold to grab a large keyring and flashlight. He made sure not to disturb Revy, who laid on her cot flicking through a magazine full of guns and scantily clad women.

After returning up onto the Lagoon's deck, Rock tossed his cigarette into the water, and jumped across the gap to the bridge of the overturned ship. He then worked his way around inside, managing to run his head into his surroundings only once. After finding the hatch with the oversized padlock, Rock let himself inside the waterlogged room.

Shining the flashlight around, Rock saw six large cylindrical tanks all connected by a main line. They were suspended from the side of the ship, which was the roof in his case.

_Well those look like they're a new addition._

Rock saw part of an old gasoline pump that looked like it belonged at a 1950's gas station, attached to one tank. His light then shined over a rope ladder hanging down to the water line. He climbed up and unrolled the extra-long hose from a large spool that also was attached to the hull, and dropped the slack into the water below, causing a loud splash. He then carried the nozzle back outside, dolling out the excess hose as he went.

After fueling up, Rock returned the hose, but forgot to bring the flashlight with him. He fumbled the nozzle in the dark, accidentally soaking his shirt and dress pants with a splash of high-octane fuel. He also managed to trip and fall into the gunk which floated atop the knee-high water, as he very clumsily made his way out of the waterlogged ship.

When Rock was finished, he stood inside the Black Lagoon's engine compartment, covered in filth. He radioed his boss, "All done Dutch, I checked the fluids twice and went through the rest of the checklist, we're all ready to go in here."

Dutch replied, "Allrighty Rock, good work, we'll be on solid ground again in no time. We've got visitors waiting for us at HQ, so get yourself cleaned up, or at least changed. I swear, I could smell you through the bulkhead."

Rock replied into his earpiece, "Yeah, don't I know it."

Rock looked at his hands, and wiped them on his already ruined shirt. He had grease, fuel, and smelly grime all over his clothing.

_Dammit! I liked this outfit._

Hating the smell that clung to him and his clothes, Rock stripped down to his boxers and tossed his grubby clothing into a pile in the corner. He decided he'd grab them later when they clean out the Lagoon in port.

Rock remembered that he kept three full changes of clothes in the forward cargo hold. They just so happened to be in a large suitcase, one that sat under a certain woman's cot.

_Here we go again..._

He quietly entered the forward cargo hold and walked over to Revy's cot, kneeling slowly to grab his suitcase. Rock heard a sniff and a noise of disgust come from Revy as he went to reach underneath. A boot clad leg moved down and in Rock's way, stopping his attempt. He got a handful of Revy's shapely, scarred, and well-toned thigh instead.

Peering around her magazine with a raised brow, Revy asked, "_What in the fuck _do you think you're doing Rock?!"

Rock stared up at her with the expression of an innocent deer caught in the headlights.

She shrieked, "And whyYY THE FUCK ARE YOU NAKED?!" She began to blush profusely.

"I-I'm Not.."

Revy proceeded to kick Rock square in the chest, with the flat of her boot. He fell flat onto his back, onto the floor next to her cot. He took a moment to wheeze heavily, trying to catch his breath. Revy just stared at him with a shocked expression from where she laid on her cot. She held up the magazine to cover most of her reddened face, except for her eyes. She noticed he had boxers on, red plaid ones, and that they outlined his features quite well.

Rock let out a small cough before he said, "I was trying to get my clothes..." Rock coughed again. "From my suitcase Revy."

Revy's let out a silent sigh of relief, though there was a hint of disappointment in it as well.

She returned to her usual self_. "Oh really? Well, _why don't you speak up next time, moron!"

"Well I.."

She threw the magazine at Rock, who caught it in the face right as he sat up. Revy then sat herself up and leaned over the cot, pulling the suitcase out from underneath for him.

Pushing the suitcase across the room with an outstretched leg, Revy said, "Here, go on ahead..." She caught another whiff of Rock. "Damn! You fucking smell like shit Rock! Just take it and get the hell out of here, fuck!"

Rock let out a sigh.

_It's times like these I really miss the clean space of a well-maintained office. _

Revy pinched her nose and turned away. "What are you hanging around for? Just take the damn suitcase and go, Christ." She said.

"Okay, okay, _I'll go_." Rock stood and made his exit.

_That went about as well as expected._

Rock worked his way back into the bunk area, and placed the suitcase onto one nearby. He then fumbled with the large combination padlock he kept on it, until it clicked. He opened it up, and was greeted with a bright stack of orange & yellow Hawaiian shirts with sandals, in the place of his usual office attire.

Rock held one of the shirts up, with and glared at it with an irate expression on his face. His right eye twitched.

_That... Witch! She should know not to mess with my clothes by now. This is the last straw!_

Rock balled up the shirt and tossed it back into the suitcase, slamming it shut.

He ranted to himself as he started making his way back to Revy in the forward cabin. "_Oh, _I'm going to give her an_ earful.."_

Dutch cut in over the radio, "Alrighty people, finally, _we have arrived."_

Everyone chimed in, muttering curses and words of relief over the comms, everybody except for Rock.

Fed up with the situation at hand, Rock made a snap decision. He stretched his arms behind his back, straightened his posture, and made his way towards the nearest exit.

Rock exited the Lagoon last, emerging from the engine compartment. He acted no different in his demeanor as he made his way over to the side of the Lagoon, and hopped onto the pier where the rest of the company stood conversating.

With Mr. Chang and his armed escort.

Rock stood barefoot, in nothing but his plaid boxers, smelling like absolute ass, blissfully unaware of the bright red boot shaped imprint on his chest. It was beginning to bruise quite colorfully.

Benny, Revy, and all of Chang's armed guards turned their noses away or covered them, trying to avoid the stench wafting from Rock.

Dutch palmed his forehead and spoke in a dangerous tone, "Please tell me you're not going off your rocker _again _Rock."

"No, no I'm not Dutch."

Rock wore a plain expression as he approached Chang. He offered an outstretched hand to the Triad boss. "It's good to see you again Mr. Chang, how have things been with you lately?"

Even with his signature black sunglasses on, Chang's expression was clearly one of open-mouthed shock. His expression shifted into a bright smile soon after though, and a deep belly laugh began to erupt from the man. He shook Rock's hand vigorously, and the two men smiled.

Chang said,_ "Ohhh man, it's good to see you too Rock! _And here I thought I had a rough time on my vacation." Chang chuckled some more. "You never cease to amaze me Rock, I have to say, you really are quite the enigma." Chang paused to eye Rock again. "Now I won't ask! But I know, that you know, that you don't want to go around giving people the wrong idea Rock. We know some _very_ important people rely on you for your _civility_ here in Roanapur."

Rock pointed a finger at Revy and replied, "You have her to thank for my current state, she decided it would be cute to swap out my spare change of clothes I kept aboard the Lagoon for some god-awful Hawaiian shirts and sandals."

"Oh yeah!? Well that doesn't mean you have to start acting like some fucking nutcase in front of boss Chang!" She hollered.

"Relax Revy, you should know that clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. You took that away from him, so it's safe to say you'll be treading a thin line for a while with this one two-hands." Chang warned her, gesturing to Rock.

Revy replied sarcastically, "Ha! Yeah, _I'm suuure I will be_."

Dutch perked up when Chang spoke, smiling when he recognized who he quoted. "I should've figured you a fan of Mark Twain." Dutch stepped forward and motioned towards the office. "I've been told by Balalaika the office was rebuilt and furnished first, shall we continue this conversation upstairs Mr. Chang?"

"Fine by me Dutch, lead the way."

As the group made their way up and into the office, Chang tried to convince Dutch to switch to his insurance. He told Dutch that he would have been eligible for a company hot tub with the amount of money he's put up for Balalaika's plan. Rock ended up getting lost in his own thoughts as he half listened to the group. Just the sight of Chang had him back thinking of how he could de-throne him, and all of the other mob bosses in Roanapur once again.

_Well I suppose one is already taken care of. Whether or not the Italian-American seat will be filled again remains to be seen. Perhaps I could get more information on that situation from Balalaika somehow..._

The group entered the main seating area in the Lagoon Company building. They sat on the new couches and chairs surrounding a nice oak coffee table. Benny sat the hard drive that he had been carrying on the table between the Lagoon Company and Mr. Chang's armed entourage. He then sat down on the couch beside Dutch.

Rock stopped and watched the exchange quietly by the door, behind Chang. His whirling thoughts quieted themselves quickly when he saw the hard drive get set on the coffee table. The feeling in the room shifted in that moment.

Chang reached into his black trench coat, and pulled out a small brown paper bag. He sat up took the hard drive, placing the bag where it once sat.

"Before we talk about this here," Chang gestured with the hard drive in one hand. "And everything else that has transpired Dutch, please allow me to give you some housewarming gifts. Do pardon the poor packaging, it was a gift from a friend of mine. Unfortunately, he has since passed on, though we used to exchange bottles on the regular as a formality."

Dutch sat up from his own laid-back position on the other couch, and grabbed the paper bag. He ended up pulling out a bottle of vintage Ardbeg 1973 Moncrieffe from it, causing his jaw to drop for a brief moment.

"Heh, that's one hell of a housewarming gift. Come on now, didn't you get me anything?" Revy asked.

"I'm sorry two-hands, but I'm afraid I'm _all_ _out_ of goodies." Chang teased her sarcastically, smiling.

This caused Revy to look away and growl. She stood up from her chair beside Dutch, and wandered over to get a beer out of the fridge nearby. The conversation continued.

Dutch made his statement, "Okay, what's the premise for this Mr. Chang? I happen to recall failing to hold up our end of the transaction."

Chang motioned to one of his armed guards, who came over and bent down so he could speak into his ear. The guard stood after receiving his orders, and took two of the five others, walking off down the main hall, entering rooms.

"Your next housewarming gift is more of a necessity rather than a nicety, I hope you don't mind Dutch. I can't continue until my guards sweep the premises for bugs and the like."

"Actually, I had planned on doing that myself later today, so no, I don't mind." Dutch replied, as he eyed the bottle in his hand.

Chang smiled a wolfish grin. "That's a special bottling Dutch. One meant for the Italian market."

"Well, you sure _kept_ some interesting company Mr. Chang." Dutch smiled back at him.

"He wasn't much company Dutch, in fact, my only interest in him was for his taste in fine wines and liquor."

"Oh, is that right." Dutch remarked, focusing on the bottle again.

Chang's guards came back out into the main seating area. All three were carrying telescopic handheld mirrors, and flashlights. The one guard left a handful of miniaturized listening devices on the coffee table, and then they all began lifting up the office ceiling tiles around the group, inspecting the space directly above them for more bugs.

Dutch set the Ardbeg Moncrieffe back on the table, swapping it out for some of the bugs that Chang's men had recovered. He held each one up individually, and then began crushing them one by one.

Benny sat and watched in horror as two bugs got smashed. He finally spoke up, "Hey! Hold on Dutch, save me some of them ok? I might be able to do something with those." Benny took and pocketed the remaining bugs on the table.

"You serious Benny?" Dutch asked.

"Yep, I think I may be able to repurpose them, or sell them for a decent price actually. That's if they find the main transmitter." Just then, right behind Benny, a guard knocked down a ceiling tile and caught a black box that fell down with it.

Chang said, "Heh, well it looks like it's your lucky day then."

The guard handed the transmitter and remaining bugs to Benny, who muttered his thanks to them. He observed his new tech with gleeful eyes.

"Please, make sure you take those outside, I really don't like having them around." Chang said.

Benny inspected the transmitter for a few more seconds. "Oh, uhh, ok, I'm going to make a quick run into town then, I think I'll need some new screwdriver heads, might even have some new ones made by the looks of it. I'll see you all later then." He wandered over to the door as he spoke to the group, and then made his exit.

Dutch said, "Hmm, I wonder how long those have been there. Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've fumigated the place."

Chang replied, "Come on now Dutch, you and I both know the answer to that."

Rock hated listening to Chang speak, in fact, while he was out at sea, he constantly found himself wishing it was Chang and his men getting gunned down in the battle that transpired a week ago.

_He just loves the sound of his own voice, I can't stand it! People who think their own shit doesn't stink should take a deep breath of their own pile for once. Wait, I swear I've heard something like that before..._

Rock's persisting lack of clothes was beginning to draw attention again. Chang's guards had begun glancing at him as they busied themselves putting the ceiling tiles back. Some had expressions of humor on their faces, others had suspicion in their eyes. Revy's gaze had kept bobbing back and forth between Rock and the conversation, non-stop. Chang was going on about how Dutch shouldn't trust Balalaika as far as he could throw her, when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Rock quit breathing as the room fell silent.

Chang cocked his head slightly. Realizing that Rock was still in the room behind him, he said, "Hey Rock? You know, you should go and get yourself cleaned up buddy, you'll feel much better if you do. Oh, and you might want to put some ice on the boot mark on your chest, you'll be lucky _not_ to feel that one in the morning."

Caught red handed. "Oh, uhh yeah, that's a good idea." He replied.

_Yeah right, message received Mr. Chang. Well I guess it's only fair I can't eavesdrop on their conversation. I'm just glad he didn't have me killed back then._

Rock walked out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom, not hearing one word being said behind him. He let himself inside, and put his ear to the door.

_Damn, I can't make out what they're saying._

After a minute of listening to faint muffled voices, Rock gave up. He decided a shower really would do him better. He finished up showering feeling clean, but not at all refreshed. The constant week of work with little sleep was beginning to catch up with him. He wrapped his lower half with the white bath towel he had used, and left the bathroom as quietly as he could.

_I hope I haven't missed all of the conversation._

Rock's movement toward the utility closet paused when he overheard laughter.

"_Ohhh boy_, Ha! Now If that isn't the truth Dutch, I _really _don't know what is." Chang said, coming down off the laughter.

"Well Mr. Chang, I gotta say, I'm very happy we've cleared up the misunderstanding." Dutch said.

_Dammit! I guess I missed out on the good bits after all, oh well. _

Disappointed, Rock tuned out the conversation, even though he was walking closer to it on his way to the utility closet. He opened it, fumbling through the clothing that was hung up, looking for his other backup change of clothing that he kept at the office.

He found them, and paying no attention of his surroundings, Rock dropped his towel to the floor, dressing himself like he does every morning in a quick, efficient, and autonomous manner. He was missing a tie, so he wore his white dress shirt with the top three buttons undone. Rock also failed to notice that his shirt and pants had bullet holes in them, most of them having perforated his shirt.

Rock closed the closet door. Turning around, he ended up face to face with Revy, causing him to jump out of surprise.

"Oh! Heyy, Revyy, I didn't hear you.. OW!" Rock yelped.

Revy smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand, pushing him aside.

"I hope you realize Rock, _you kind of showed everybody your naked ass when you put your pants on._ Now get out of my way, idiot." She walked past him, into the restroom.

Both Dutch and Chang were scowling, staring at Rock silently. Some of Chang's guards looked angry or uncomfortable, and the others held back hints of humorous smirks from creeping on their faces.

Rock stared back at them with dark circles under his eyes, and scratched his head while wearing an embarrassed expression. He muttered, "Uhh heyy, listen guys, I'm really sorry about that, I have this routine I do.."

Chang held up a hand, stopping Rock's explanation with the simple gesture.

"Don't worry about it Rock, I was just about to leave anyways." He said.

Dutch spoke up, "Boss Chang,_ I _apologize for the behavior of my employee. I really hope this hasn't soured relations between us."

Chang stood to leave and said, "No, not at all, you've got nothing to worry about. I too, am _very glad_ we were able to sort that problem out Dutch. And don't expect me to stop calling on you for your services, there is no other entity quite like Lagoon Company here in Roanapur. Besides, in this kind of world, we're all entitled to slip up once in a while."

Dutch rose up and shook his hand. He replied with a smile, "Thank you, very much, Boss Chang."

Chang and his guards made their way over to the door, with one of them opening it for their boss. Chang stopped in the open doorway, and turned around to face Rock and Dutch.

"There is something I need you to do Rock. I know I'm the last person you want to receive orders from, but I mean this when I say it, please take care of Revy. One look at her tells me she isn't even at 50% of her fighting capacity. She might heal well, but she should be taken to check back in with the doctor she visited. That woman will lose her mind soon if she can't get back to what she does best. And, you know you need her to survive in a place like this."

Rock was surprised by the request. "O-okay, I'll be sure to do that." He replied.

"As much as we may dislike one another Rock, I'm sure we can both understand that squandering the presence of a companion like her should be a crime."

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that." He pondered what Chang told him.

Chang waved at the two men and said, "Dutch, I'll call you again when I got something up your alley, enjoy that Ardbeg my friend." He made his exit.

"_Oh I certainly will_, and you have a good evening Mr. Chang." Dutch replied, shutting the door behind the last guard.

Dutch turned around to face Rock. "Well you heard the man, the sun may be setting, but you've got a priority that needs tending to Rock. I can't have our gunman underperforming, so I'll call ahead and let the doc know you're coming. I put on some coffee when you were in the shower, grab some and wake yourself up. I'll be cleaning out and getting the lagoon ready for her new additions, so call me if something comes up." Dutch made for the other door.

Rock nodded his head yes. "Wait, so we were working to get those guns after all." He said.

"You know I've been meaning to do it for some time Rock, and I wasn't about to stick Boss Chang with the bill. We did fail to finish the job after all." Dutch said.

"True." Rock said, scratching his head.

"Hey, why don't you stop by the Yellow Flag tonight Rock. I'm going to buy us all some drinks, and I know Revy's been done with her pain meds for a few days now, so it wouldn't hurt to get some liquor back in her system." Dutch said.

"Yeah I agree, I'll be there." Rock said, rubbing his chest.

As Dutch went on down to work on the Lagoon, Rock walked over and got the coffee Dutch brewed for him. He downed one cup immediately, and filled another.

Revy emerged from a steamed up bathroom, to see Rock leaning on the closet door with a cup of coffee in his hand. He was tapping his foot out of impatience, appearing to have been waiting for her. She tied her long hair back into her usual ponytail.

"Oh boy, what is it _now_." She said.

"Finally, okay, _Revy_, you need to come with me, Cha.. I mean I want you to go back to the doctor for your follow up visit. Dutch went ahead and called ahead for us, so we need to get going. Benny took the car, so we'll need to walk." Rock said.

Rock could tell that Revy was getting ready to boil over again after hearing that, so he downed the rest of his coffee, set down the mug, and swept her off her feet before she could get a word out.

"Prick." Revy muttered, giving up before she started.

Rock carried her over and stopped next to the closed door.

He gazed into her eyes and repeated what Chang had said earlier. "Squandering your presence should be a crime."

Revy's eyes went wide at his statement, and the beginnings of a blush began to appear on her face.

Rock cracked a grin and adjusted his hold on her. "Could you get the door please." He asked.

Revy growled and opened the door.

Rock chuckled. "Thank you for your cooperation." He said plainly.

Revy scowled at him, and flicked him in the chest.

He was descending the stairs slowly. "Ouch! Hey, if your too much trouble, I'll just have to drop you Revy."

"Well if you do that, I'll just have to shoot you dead." Revy replied, grinning.

He smiled back. "Yep, and I'd deserve it."

"Mhmm." Revy replied quietly.

She hooked her arms around his neck, and rested her head on his shoulder, not saying another word. Rock lumbered along, carrying Revy under another sunset enveloping Roanapur and the shimmering South China Sea. It was a beautiful one, like the heavens were casting a vivid multi-color glow down upon the earth.

**The **sun had set by the time Rock and Revy entered a street on the outskirts of town. A large M35A2 deuce and a half cargo truck came screeching around the corner up ahead. It roared down the street, passing by both of them.

Rock kept on moving, not paying it much mind. Revy on the other hand, had recognized the white and black nuns' habit the driver was wearing. She locked eyes with the driver, and smiled a wicked grin at her, watching the vehicle pass by.

Eda stared at the image before her with her jaw hanging open, not paying attention to the road at all. She had witnessed a tired, battered, and sweaty Rock carrying Revy under the streetlights.

"Whaaat!" Eda exclaimed.

_ bump.. DING-CRRUNCH!_

"FUCK!" Eda shrieked. She steered the deuce and a half back onto the street.

Revy erupted in laughter in Rock's arms after watching what had happened over his shoulder. "Ha! Looks like our holy sister took out a stop sign. Well, I know why, and I bet I'm never gonna hear the end of this now." She said.

Rock replied plainly, "So that's what that was, huh."

He was showing signs of exhaustion as he huffed along, still carrying Revy. The two were only a few blocks away from the doctor's place.

Revy said, "You know, _I am able walk_ _now_ _Rock_."

"We're almost there Revy." He was wheezing as he kept on going.

She wriggled in his arms. "Set me down! I can walk from here, _you moron!_"

Rock exhaled, "O-ooohhhkayy hhooo!" He set her down on her feet.

Revy eyed Rock, who was standing with his hands behind his head, still huffing, covered in sweat. "Were you a jogger back in japan?" She asked.

Rock eyed her with a perplexed expression. He wiped the sweat from his face with his shirt sleeve, replying in between breaths, "That question came out of nowhere, I wasn't exactly running. That being said, yes, I was, when I had the time. I admit I've let myself go quite a bit, since I've been here in Roanapur."

"Hmm, well you're not that far gone Rock, I mean, you can still return to that _picturesque happy life_ in Japan anytime you want you know." Revy said.

"I really don't appreciate that Revy, we've been over this many times already. I'm not going anywhere." Rock replied, scowling.

Revy continued, "Well it sure seemed like life was better for you in Japan, considering all the.."

Rock wasn't going to hear it again. He interrupted, "Well it turns out! That I'm much happier here in Roanapur Revy. There, is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Well I'd say you sure picked a fucked up place to find your happi.."

_BRRRT! KDOOSHK! BRRRT!_

Revy was cut off by the sound of nearby gunfire. Instinctually, she drew a cutlass, and grabbed Rock by the collar. She dragged him into cover behind the front of a parked box truck, near the engine compartment.

_BRAK!BRAKBRAKBRAK!_

Rock had a bewildered expression on his face as he knelt next to Revy on the street curb.

Revy said, "Sounds like it was coming from the direction of the doctor's place."

_BOOOOM!_

Revy grinned wickedly. "Yup! I say we go fucking knock on the front door."

Rock's hand wrapped around the barrel of her cutlass. He wrenched it out of her grasp.

"U-hey!"

"No! You're not going off and getting yourself killed, you can't even run on your own yet, and I'm not about to let you drag me into a gun battle. The doctor's visit is going to have to wait till tomorrow, and that's if he is even alive tomorrow. I can cancel it."

Revy raised a fist towards Rock, "_Fuck you!_ I can.."

Rock had enough, "NO! Now take this, and shut UP!" Rock wrapped a hand around her back, and pulled Revy's body closer, pressing her into his front. He shoved her cutlass back into its holster with his other hand, and then scooped her up off the ground once more.

Now Revy was the one wearing the bewildered expression. Her body bounced with Rock's pace as he quickly carried her away from the sounds of another gun battle.

"We're going to the Yellow Flag Revy. Dutch said he's going to buy us drinks tonight, but considering the circumstances, I believe you and me should get started early."

Revy's expression changed immediately, smiling, she snaked an arm around and up the back of his neck, and patted him on the back of the head.

"Good doggie." She chuckled.

**The two** were now walking side by side through main street Roanapur. Farther away from the gun battle, but not quite out of earshot. They both walked past a destroyed restaurant sporting crime scene tape all over the outside. Rock noticed that their surroundings had been silent for the last few minutes they've been walking, like the city was holding its foul breath.

_Strange..._

Rock took a brief glance at the wrecked business, and wondered what had happened there. He continued walking past it with Revy by his side. He fully understood now that something wasn't quite right, there were no flocks of reprobates outside any of the nearby businesses. He looked around and saw that the lights inside the buildings were all on, and the neon lights above the gambling hubs and dive bars were buzzing as always, but there was only two other people on the street with them.

A drunk stumbling along ahead of them, nursing a bottle, and a young prostitute leaning on a street lamp across the street, who had her back to them.

"What the fuck is going on? Where is everybody? This street should be packed with all kinds of freaks." Revy said.

Rock finally realized what else was different.

_All of the doors have closed signs on them..._

Rock suddenly stopped moving. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Revy stopped too, sensing the change in her partner, a hand moved to a cutlass.

Rock connected the dots. At the same time, he had the gut instinct to get out of sight, so strong he felt it in his bones.

_I need to.. We need to move, Now!_

Without saying a word, Rock suddenly grabbed Revy by the wrist, and pulled her into the entrance of a nearby alley. He quickly unbuttoned his dress shirt, stripping himself down to a white sleeveless undershirt. He gave it to Revy.

Rock asked his partner in a quiet and urgent tone, "Put this on _now_, leave it unbuttoned, and Do. Not. Argue."

He had a sly look on his face as he spoke to her. It was a look he's rarely ever shown. Revy hated it, she thought it looked wrong on his face, but she did as she was told.

He grabbed her by her hips, and moved her further into the alley, out of the streetlight.

Revy's expression changed from bewildered to angry before she piped up, "H-hey! What in the fuck do you think you're.."

"Ssshhh-shut up!" Rock whispered worriedly, looking towards the street.

Not a moment later, the two of them heard a chorus of high pitch squeals coming from tires in the distance, and the sound of several car engines coming closer.

Rock said, "Give me your hands."

Not giving her a chance to reply, Rock grabbed her hands, and pinned her up against the dirty alley wall with his body. He placed one of her hands on his behind, and one on his back. He nestled his head under her hair, in the crook of her neck. He also placed one of his own hands on her lower back, and the other on the back of her neck. A lover's embrace.

Revy's eyes went wide as she began to blush a deep shade of red. She had no words for what he was doing to her. She could feel his breath on her neck, but she didn't dare move a muscle.

Rock said softly, "Don't say a word, just hold still unless someone comes past the alley, I'm not going to try anything."

About six black sedans came roaring past the alley, some with their windows rolled down. They stopped at the intersection nearby, and Rock thought he could hear some arguing between the people in the cars.

_Sounds like they're speaking in Italian... And here I figured they were all wiped out..._

After what seemed like an eternity, they heard the cars tear off into the distance. The two stood there, still holding one another.

_Well it's a good thing my gut wasn't wrong! Mmmm, her warmth, it still feels the same as the night I spent in bed with her. I need to feel this again. And her hair smells so nice, cigarettes and shampoo... Mmm, and these legs... Wow._

"What are you doing with your hands?! Uhhh Rock? Hello!? Rock! _RRRR!" _Revy slammed her boot down on Rock's foot.

"OOO! OOOW! DAMMIT!"

Rock released Revy instantly, and backed up hopping on one leg. He leaned on the other side of the alleyway, holding his hurting foot, inspecting it.

"Oww Revy! Why'd you do tha.."

_C-CLICK!_

Rock froze when he heard that familiar sound, he looked up slowly, and found himself staring down both barrels of Revy's cutlasses.

As if a crushed foot and two 9mm Berettas aimed at him wasn't enough, Revy's expression was the nail in the coffin, so to speak.

Her eyes showed a brief flash of something very strange, but it was quickly replaced with a more dangerous expression. Not a single shred of a conscience could be seen in her eyes now, it was unnerving, though it was not enough to make Rock forget what he saw in that moment. He couldn't get over the strange look in her eyes, even staring down both barrels of her guns couldn't shake it from his mind.

_I've seen that before... That's the same flash of something I saw in her eyes a week ago. Just what is that look?_

Revy took a swift step back, and kicked Rock in the stomach with the toe of her boot. All the air left his body once again, and he doubled over onto the pavement, gasping for breath.

"Ihhhehh I'm sorryhhh Rev.."

Revy screamed, "SHUT THE FUCK UP ROCK! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" She jammed a cutlass into the back of Rock's head. She was trembling, teetering on the edge. If Rock didn't look up at her soon...

He shouted, "Well?! What _do_ you want to hear Revy?!"

Rock was still breathing heavy from being kicked, but he stood up quickly, snapped his hand back, and grabbed her wrist. Revy didn't try to resist his strength, she just let him take the gun from her hand. He held it behind his back where she couldn't grab at it, which was quite the futile move, as she still had her other one pointed at him. Revy let him snatch her cutlass, mainly because she really just wanted to see if that same slime ball look was still in his eyes.

She was still unnerved over the expression she'd seen on his face before he embraced her. Revy didn't see Rock's usual sad softness in his eyes. Rather, she saw the eyes of a manipulator, a cunning quick-thinker, a special kind of monster here in Roanapur.

Revy knew that very few people have that kind of sly, calculating gaze. Most of those who did, were often the kind who pulled the strings behind the scenes in Roanapur. The type of people you that know are only seeing what benefit you are to them, when their attention is on you.

"I thought we were past _this, this _bullshit Revy!" Rock exclaimed, rubbing his stomach.

Revy holstered the cutlass in her off-hand, and wrapped her free hand around Rock's throat. She pushed him back up against the wall he had been leaned against, and pressed her lower body into his.

This time around, it was Rock who had a bewildered expression on his face.

"R-Revy, what are you doi.."

Revy flashed a sultry grin. "Oh shut the fuck up Rock. _Now,_ _can't you see I want something?" _She teased.

She had her hand around his wrist, on the arm that held her other cutlass behind his back.

"I got a round in the chamber, so if you accidently shoot yourself in the ass, it's nobody's fault but yours." Revy said, plainly.

Revy took a step back from Rock, and he handed her gun back to her. She holstered it, and walked away from the situation, back into the streetlight.

She turned to him, and wearing the same warm smile that Rock's grown so accustomed to, she said, "Well? That Bacardi isn't going to drink itself, come on now, _partner." _

_I swear, she really is insane._

Rock walked over into the light and stood next to her, wearing a guarded expression on his face. Revy slipped out of Rock's dress shirt, and handed it back to him. He buttoned it up, looked her in the eye, and nodded his agreement. They walked off in the direction of the Yellow Flag once again, neither one saying another word the entire way there. The two of them knew they'd go on with their night as planned, as if a treaty of silence had been signed between them with that single nod.

As the two rounded the corner onto the street of their favorite bar, they saw a man wearing a black suit exit the building. He slowly walked off into the night, in the opposite direction, not appearing to be in a rush.

Just as Rock and Revy were about to enter the Yellow Flag, Bao came rushing outside, nearly smacking Rock in the face with the door. He had a briefcase in one hand, and his Remington Model 1100 in the other. Bao was sweating beads, and when he saw Rock, he jumped out of surprise.

"Christ Rock, you look awful! But hey that's a good thing this time, cause I shit you not, I just met your evil twin a moment ago. Did you two see what way he went?" Bao asked them, setting down the briefcase.

Rock replied, "Was he wearing all black?"

Bao nodded yes, wiping the sweat from his brow with a sleeve.

They both pointed to the man who was walking down the street. He was only a block away.

Bao motioned towards the door. "Thanks guys, head in and get seated at the bar, I'll be back in just a moment. That _gentleman_ forgot his briefcase." He picked up the aforementioned item.

"No way, I'm not gonna miss this!" Revy said.

"I'll be inside then." Rock replied, letting himself in.

Bao ran up the street towards the man, and stopped a ways back from him behind a large dumpster. He shouted, "Hey Mister Japanese! You forgot your fuckin briefcase!"

He threw the briefcase towards the man with all his might, and shouldered his shotgun. The man was on a crosswalk when he turned around, just in time to catch it in his arms. He looked at Bao with a shocked expression, his face turned as white as a sheet. Bao shot the briefcase, quickly ducking behind the dumpster.

A massive fireball erupted in the empty intersection, rattling the windows of the nearby buildings.

"Nice shooting Bao!" Revy hollered from up the street.

"Thanks Revy! That actually means something, coming from you!" Bao shouted back.

Revy held the door for him, and the two walked in just in time to witness Eda in her usual pink sunglasses and nightlife attire, fawning over Rock.

"_Revy..." _Bao warned, making his way back to the bar.

Revy's eye twitched when she saw what Eda was doing. Rock was sitting at the bar, and Eda was standing, pressing her assets into Rock's back, pouring him drinks from behind.

She held the glass up to Rock's lips, and then stepped back to take a sip from it herself.

_BLAM!_

The glass shattered in Eda's hand, as did a bottle of premium liquor on the shelf behind it. The whole bar instantly became dead quiet.

Eda exclaimed, "Ow! _Hey you bitch!_ I was going to drink that!" She flipped Revy a bloody middle finger.

Bao howled, "_OHHH!_ God dammit Revy! That's enough! You're paying for that damn bottle! And the glass! You're either paying this time, or you're not getting served here anymore!"

Revy looked at Bao with a dismissive glare. The background racket inside the bar picked up again. Bao groaned, knowing his own words wouldn't make much of a difference. Rock sat with his back to the heated exchange, too tired to care.

Rock looked at Bao and said, "I'll pay for that bottle, and the glass Bao. Make sure to add a bottle of Bacardi onto that while you're at it."

Bao harrumphed, "Well, as long as _Revy_ doesn't start anymore _shit_, I'll be fine with that. Just don't go ruining your liver too fast, alright?"

Bao placed his shotgun in its usual spot behind the armored bar and resumed his work. He cleaned up the mess on the liquor shelf display, then made a call on the landline.

"Oh, Bao? Get me another whiskey over ice." Rock added.

Bao nodded, and continued to murmur into the phone which sat nestled in-between his ear and shoulder. He produced Rock's drink quickly, setting it in front of him.

Eda reached over and took Rock's handkerchief from his shirt pocket, wrapping her hand with it. She kept an eye on Revy as she walked over from the door. Revy took the open seat next to Rock, who had sat at the end of the bar. Eda squeezed in between the two so she could be face to face with Revy, and looked at her friend with a provocative grin.

"Well somebody's frustrated! How are you Revy? You know, you looked a bit stiff like Frankenstein when you walked over to the bar. What happened? Are you still recovering? Or did our innocent little Rock here finally plow you?! Eda teased, bumping rock with her rear.

Revy's eye twitched again as Eda was teasing her.

Eda sat partially on Rock's lap, causing his face to go bright red. He leaned away from her and sipped the new drink Bao had served him.

Revy gave Eda a dangerous glare. "Still recovering Eda, _now_, if you don't want to wear this drink, _get your ass off of Rock_, sit on a stool, and quit acting like a bitch in heat."

"_Well then_, it's good to see you too Revy." Eda said.

The three sat and sipped their drinks, smoked, and got caught up with what's been going on with one another for a good while. Dutch and Benny showed up a half hour in, they came in through the back, greeting everyone. They sat at the bar and joined in on the conversation, and Dutch ordered up a round of drinks as promised.

Balalaika showed up not long after them, causing the whole bar to go dead silent once more. All that could be heard was the click of her heels as she approached the bar. Everyone inside the building except Rock, turned and watched her as she came in. He just sat in the same position, staring into the wood grain of the bar half asleep, and the other half, not caring who or what was behind him.

_As long as I can relax, with this cigarette in my hand, I don't care if this place goes up in flames for the thousandth time. As long as I can just breathe, and sip this drink.._

The Lagoon Company stayed put, while the other patrons on the stools at the bar got up and parted quickly, as Balalaika came closer. She stopped in front of Bao, who stood on the other side of the bar cleaning a mug, chuckling quietly.

Balalaika said, "I'd say Your luck has changed for the better, this time Bao. Here is _half_ _of the bounty_ that Hotel Moscow and the Triad promised." She handed Bao a thick white envelope.

Bao replied, "What?! Why not the whole bounty?"

Balalaika smiled a sideways grin. "It's quite hard to be 100% sure when there are no remains to identify the body Bao, you know that." She said.

Bao chuckled, "Heh, If you give me enough time, I'm sure I can find his head out there somewhere!"

Balalaika laughed along with him, replying, "_Ohh dear, yes, _I'm certain you could Bao_. _But, we have to sit on it for a while, to make sure there isn't a _second bomber, _you see."

The entire bar murmured their disbelief and concern quietly when they heard that tidbit of information.

Balalaika turned to leave, and Bao grumbled his thanks, returning to cleaning the mug he had in his hands.

She stopped abruptly after taking several steps toward the exit, and turned to face the end of the bar.

Balalaika locked eyes with Revy. "Two Hands! Has Mr. Okajima helped you recover?!" She demanded.

"_Unfortunately_." Revy replied, sipping her drink.

"Good. Lagoon Company, Bao, I'll be in touch." Balalaika said, making her exit.

Rock didn't even move an inch during the whole exchange, he really was at the end of his rope for the day.

As soon as Balalaika's last guard left the room behind her, the bar immediately roared to life again, all except for Rock, who had been mostly quiet the entire night. He continued to sip his drink periodically, finding himself lost in thought again. He rubbed his chest, and stared into the glass, ruminating over what Mr. Chang told him earlier.

_What a fool I am, I should've realized that myself. She's been a blessing in disguise this whole time I've been here in Roanapur. She's saved my life more times than I care to count, but I've got no real way to pay her back. And I really need to be careful with this woman. I'm certain she's satisfied with who she's become. Her pride is certainly more dangerous than the average persons. One moment she wants to kill me, the next, she's smiling all warm and genuine, like a different woman entirely. I'd really like to just sit with her and talk about these things like regular people, but I know she'll just blow it off with some rude, twisted comment like usual. I mean, at least, I think I've really trie.._

_C-CLINK!_

Rock's train of thought was interrupted with the sight and sound of two shot glasses slamming down on the counter in front of him. He looked over at Revy, who flashed a daring grin. Dutch and Benny watched him, smiling, seeing if he was going to step up to the challenge. They'll likely be the first in line to place bets. Eda was nowhere to be found, her spot appearing to have been empty for some time.

_"Well?_ Can you still hold your liquor against a _real_ woman Rock?!"

Rock stared at Revy with a blank, tired, and emotionless expression, he let out a deep sigh. He flicked away the cigarette in his hand and stood up slowly.

Rock cracked a grin. "Hmph, a _real_ woman huh? Well, you'll just have to _prove_ that to me now Revy." He said.

"_Hooo! _Oh boy here we go!" Benny said, grinning.

The bar erupted in cheer, and a crowd began to form, eager to place their bets.

Dutch smacked down 10 dollars on the bar.

"I've got ten on Rock!"

**Later **on that night...

Revy hit the floor first, landing on her ass, causing a roar of applause that drowned out the groans of disappointment. Rock stood tall, and held the empty shot glass in the air like a trophy. He looked down at Revy, who looked ready to vomit, and attempted to offer a hand to her. Instead, the motion caused him to stumble, and nearly fall on top of her, and if it wasn't for Benny grabbing him, he likely would have.

Benny said, "Okay big guy, you've had enough, don't go crushing the love of your life to death with your drunk clumsiness now. I've gotcha, this way." Benny led him to the back exit.

"_Ooo!_ Don't forget Racardi! I got that for the Bevy." Rock pointed to the bottle on the counter as he was ushered towards the exit.

Dutch pocketed the near-empty bottle of liquor. "I've got it Rock." He said.

Dutch had picked up Revy, and lumped her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. He carried her out back behind the bar. Benny followed with Rock.

Revy screeched drunkenly, "Be gentleee Rock!"

Benny and Dutch both burst out in laughter, and Rock started to as well, but he ended up vomiting where he walked instead. He got some on his own shirt and pants, his shoes, and Benny's feet.

Benny said, "Hey watch the sandals man! I just got these, gross!" He shook some vomit off his foot.

Dutch chuckled. "Ha! Shit Benny, the things that come out of their mouths when they get drunk."

"Hmph, yeah your telling me." Benny replied.

After Benny loaded Rock in the backseat, and Dutch sat Revy up front, they all tore off heading towards Lagoon Company HQ.

They were halfway there when Rock belched, "Uuurup! Take me to my apartment please, I need a tie."

Dutch remarked, "Your apartment? A tie? Heh, what?" He steered the GTO around another corner.

Rock replied, "Ye, yes I need a tie."

"You guys usually crash at the office after a night like that, _but if you insist." _Dutch said.

Rock replied plainly. "I really need one."

"Just how drunk are you Rock?" Benny asked, sitting beside him.

Rock said, "I think I could have gone two more shots, and I think I vomited most of that back up, I think."

"Well whatever the case, your place is right around the corner here. We'll wait in the GTO while you get yourself changed, if you're not back in five minutes Benny will come get your drunk ass." Dutch said.

They pulled up outside Rock's place. "Go on, get yourself changed Rock, we'll be here." Dutch said.

Revy belched, mumbling something.

Rock stumbled out of the car. He made his way cautiously inside the building, and found the dimly lit stairwell leading up to his floor. After hugging the rail the entire way up, he found his neighbor's door, twice, before he found his own door.

Rock let himself inside, leaving the door wide open. He fumbled the wall nearby for the light switch, and when the lights came on, there was a person wearing baggy black clothes and a balaclava standing right behind him.

"Why is it... dark again?" Rock asked, falling down on his front.

Rock was surprised by the sudden darkness, the sensation of something wrapping around his head & neck, and the feeling of being lifted up off the floor.

Those were his last thoughts before slipping unconscious.

**END Chapter 4**

**As **you can see, I'm trying out different things with my writing, so thank you for sticking with me. I'm going to save up for a fiction writing course online, so I can learn how to write proper. I quite enjoy it, and I will even more when I can do it better. Now, on a less serious note, I had a kinky Black Lagoon dream the other night! I was getting frisky with Balalaika. Outside. In the middle of a snowstorm. Does this make me a certified Otaku now? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Talk about strange, and ohhh man _I hated the ending_. My god damn alarm clock woke me up, just as the fun started! **Thanks for Reading!**

What I'm listening to while I write: What Makes A Good Man by The Heavy, Bad Company (Remastered Version) by Bad Company, Me And Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul, Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry, Gettin' It by Too Short, and finally, See You When I Git There by Lou Rawls.


	5. Chapter 5 The Scent of a Blasphemer

**Happy New Year! **Also, you can skip this chapter if you want, as you won't miss much in the way of plot. Scroll through until you find the word **Five** in bold lettering. Do it if you don't want to read anything too gross. Chapter 6 will have the important bits taken from this one and blended into it. I am going back on my previous word! I will have Chapter 6 up before the end of the month of January. If I say I'll have it up before a specified date, I will. Feel free to roast me if I don't! This is a work of fiction. I own nothing and all credit goes to Rei Hiroe and all respective publishers of his works. This is a fanfiction and a transformative work that is not intended to infringe in any way on the original creator's and publishers' works. Rated M in case you missed it.

**Chapter 5** The Scent of a Blasphemer

It was a gruesome hot and terribly humid afternoon when Rock finally awoke. Blinking away the sting of sweat in his eyes, he saw an alarm clock on a nightstand, it read 12:53 PM. He was lying in a bed on his side, wincing at the beginnings of a headache.

He looked around from his position on the bed and came to the conclusion he was in a dingy motel room. Both the bathroom and hallway doors appeared to be close to falling off their hinges, the paint was peeling on the walls, the window curtains were tattered, and the wall-mounted AC looked very much broken. The front control panel was missing its cover, sporting exposed wiring from what appeared to be a very unfinished repair job.

_Well, at least the bed is clean._

Strangely enough it was eerily silent, so much so that Rock couldn't hear any noise whatsoever.

_I must be on the outskirts of town then, judging by the noise level._

He tried to move, only to realize he was firmly tied up with his arms behind his back. He sat up, propping himself up on the pillows on the bed and attempted to wriggle free from the ropes around his ankles. He then tried the strength of the ropes around his wrists, only to have them dig deeper into skin. Rock continued on struggling for several minutes trying to free himself from his bindings.

_Oooo crap! I can't get out of these binds! Dammit! Not this again, I've quit counting how many times I've been kidnapped. One would think people know by now, the sound of Revy's cutlasses is what follows when I.._

"Oh shit." Rock murmured.

_If I'm here alone after that night of drinking... And Revy was in the GTO with the others, she must be sleeping it off at the office! This is bad..._

The sound of footsteps coming closer to the hallway door caused Rock's heartrate to skyrocket and that reaction brought his headache to a fever pitch at the same time. He gulped and hoped that the sound would continue on down the hall. His eyes were locked on the sliver of light that could be seen under the door.

Rock saw a shadow approach, he heard the footsteps stop right outside his door. He could hear the metallic jingling of keys.

_Ohhh SHIIIT! Should I scream? Will that even make a difference?!_

There was a brief moment of silence. Then he heard the creak of a door followed by the sound of one being slammed.

He let out the breath he'd been holding in the entire time, as it was just the adjacent room's occupant. Rock struggled some more against his bindings, but it seemed freedom wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He quickly ran out of energy, still exhausted from the day before. His hangover was beginning to really take its toll on top of that, with his headache increasing to a near-migraine level of pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled sharply as the nasty headache pounded away.

_I'd rather get shot in the face by Revy than go out like this._

Without warning, the sound of a full throttle chainsaw began to roar from the room across the hall. Rock squirmed on the bed, letting out a scream of terror. It just so happened, that at the same time he began screaming, the chainsaw had quieted down to an idle.

His screaming quit soon after, near-simultaneously with the chainsaw.

Rock also stopped breathing, and stopped flopping towards the edge of the bed. Now he was lying on his side again, dead still, with his back to the hallway door. He listened for any noise coming from across the hall, accompanied by the sound of his own pounding heartbeat.

Rock heard the click of high heels in the distance, right at the same time he heard the door across the hall creak open slowly. His terror increased even more, and adrenaline began to set in, pushing away the pain of his headache.

_Somebody sounds like they're coming closer, I really doubt it's going to make a difference for me, but whoever's coming down that hall shouldn't have to suffer the same fate._

The door across the hall slammed shut, and Rock heard the sound of the chainsaw's pull start, once, twice...

_BRR! BRR!_

_Dammit! This is it isn't it! Shit!_

Third times the charm.

_BRR! BRRRRRRRRR!_

Rock shouted as loud as he could, "RUN! Whoever you are out there, just run! You don't have to die too! RUN! RUN!"

The chainsaw died again, as did Rock's shouting. He heard the click of heels coming closer, with the same pace as before. There was a pause, and Rock thought he could hear the mumble of voices in the hall. A polite knock sounded at his door, which caused him to jump out of surprise and ram his head into the wall adjacent to the bed.

Rock yelled, "S-stay away! I-I'm armed! I'll shoot you if you come inside!" He flopped onto his back to see the door.

It slowly creaked open, eventually revealing Eda wearing her usual nun's habit and glasses, carrying an olive drab messenger bag over her shoulder. And there was Sawyer, who wore her blood-spattered butcher's outfit as she peered in from the hallway, behind Eda.

Rock let out a sigh of relief, though it came out as more of a groan.

"Eda! Ohh thank god, help me please! I woke up all tied up and.."

_Wait a minute, are the two of them the reason why I'm here? _

Eda flashed an amused smile towards him and took off her pink sunglasses. She walked over to a large dresser across the room and set them on it, along with her messenger bag. She observed Rock with her piercing blue eyes, staring him up and down with what he believed was a hungry gaze.

Sawyer spoke using her electrolarynx, "I'll have what you're having, sister."

Eda turned and cocked her head towards Sawyer, who stood in the open hallway door. She pinned the shorter woman with an alluring smile.

"You can, when you've finished that cleanup job for me next door."

Sawyer robotically replied, "I like the sound of that. Back to work then, good luck to you, Rock."

The cleaner turned around to leave. She flashed a knowing smile under her mask as she shut the door behind her.

Eda turned her attention back to Rock, who had an expression on his face that landed somewhere in between hungover and lost in thought. His head was pounding again, but that didn't stop his mind from racing.

_Why am I tied up like this? What freak have I upset this time? Did Eda do this, or Sawyer? She has to have something to do with this. Why, why is this happening!? _

Rock spoke up, "W-why are you looking at me like that?" He winced again at his headache.

Eda sat at his bedside and placed a well-manicured hand on his forehead.

"You seem to be burning up Rock, must be a nasty headache. You really ought to be more sensible when you drink." Eda leaned over him and cooed into his ear, "Or _someone_ might decide to take advantage."

_BRRRRRRRRR!_

Sawyer's chainsaw roared to life across the hall, but Rock was no longer startled by it. He was too busy fighting his headache, inhaling Eda's scent, and wondering just what the hell was going on. Regardless of all the swirling thoughts in his head, Rock still managed to notice her perfume was different. He also couldn't ignore the warmth of Eda's generous bosom pressing against him as she whispered to him.

Rock felt strange getting a tinge of excitement from a woman dressed in a nun's habit, especially from a woman that uses the Church as a cover for criminal acts. Rock knew it was an immoral reaction, in every sense of the word, but his body responded regardless. Knowing the kind of body she had hidden underneath the clothing wasn't helping.

Eda got up and rifled through the contents of her messenger bag. She produced a small bottle of whiskey, two packs of cigarettes, a large bottle of water, two wrapped sub sandwiches, a bag of chips, two small drinking glasses and a small bag of ice. After setting the items on the dresser Eda promptly let herself into the bathroom nearby.

Rock just stared at the door, barely noticing the sound of water running. His headache was getting far worse, he felt like he was going to vomit soon. Very soon. In his hungover state, Rock turned his head and watched the condensation form on the large bottle of water sitting on the dresser. He also saw the bag of ice, and the food beside it.

Completely incapable of getting up and grabbing at the items, Rock groaned at them instead.

Eda returned with a washcloth and a bucket of water, setting it by the nightstand and wringing out the cloth over it. She opened the curtains covering a large bay window, filling the room with the bright afternoon sun, much to Rock's displeasure. She crawled onto the bed and rolled him onto his back, awkwardly propping him up on the pillows. She also made no effort to free him from his binds.

Rock was only slightly startled when he felt the cool sensation being pressed on his forehead. The feeling brought him immediate relief.

"W-what are you, _oh,_ oh that feels good."

Eda shushed him, and then proceeded to fawn over him like a mother hen. She brought over some of the food & drink and set it on the nightstand. She opened the cold bottle of water, and cradled his head in her off hand, urging him to drink by holding it up to his lips. She unwrapped one of the sandwiches, tore it into bite-sized pieces, feeding it to him until it was no more.

Eda turned her back to Rock. Reaching over to grab the ice pack from the nightstand, she poured a couple ice cubes in each glass. She then produced a small packet of white powder from a hidden pocket inside her nun's habit and smeared some inside a glass with the tip of her finger. After peeling off the plastic seal from the bottle of whiskey, she filled the two glasses, turned around, and held one up to Rock for him to drink.

Eda sucked the rest of the powder off her fingertip and smiled a mischievous grin as she watched Rock drink. Rock failed to notice the action, as he was busy gulping down the entire glass hastily in an effort to stave off the symptoms of his hangover.

Rock let out a relieved groan. "Thank you, sister."

"Mhm."

Eda poured out the rest of the whiskey, filling his glass almost halfway. She sensed the warmth of where his lips had just been. She stood up, held it up to her own lips, and knocked it back. Rock watched as she consumed the rest of the amber liquid, which he really had wanted to finish himself.

"Hey, I was hoping to drink that." He said.

Eda was walking over to the dresser when she heard Rock. She froze in place. In a flash, she turned and threw the empty glass towards him, narrowly missing his head. It bounced off the wall behind him and shattered on the floor.

Rock figured he would be regretting that comment.

Her body language changed in an instant. She had just been doting over him a moment ago with a look of sympathy on her face, tending to him with a compassionate touch. Now, she looked ready to kill him. Rock thought it was a strange sight, seeing as she was dressed like a nun. Eda wore the expression of a stone-cold killer, the kind of look where you could tell something was missing, or not all there. Rock was more accustomed to seeing the look appear on Revy's face, as well as the countless wicked souls and nasty criminals he's had dealings with in Roanapur. He had never really seen Eda this angry before, not like this, and certainly not at him. It terrified him all the same.

"Eda, Eda, I'm sorry. I am. That was very rude of me." Rock squirmed on the bed, and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Y-you've always been polite to me, a-and I don't.."

Eda walked over to the dresser and reached into her messenger bag. She slowly pulled out a large combat knife, and eyed Rock with a cold, sideways glance.

Rock's blood turned to ice. When she unsheathed it, Rock saw the matte black coating and the back edge of the blade, which had an exceptionally aggressive serration. The razor-sharp knife edge was the only surface that reflected any light, flashing a beam of sunlight across the room just like the clock face on a wristwatch does.

Eda got a running start before pouncing on top of Rock, causing him to scream. He thrashed about, trying to inch away from her as she attempted to pin him in place. Eda held the knife up high as she straddled her prey, trying to grab ahold of his hair with her free hand.

Rock pleaded, "No! NO! I don't want to die! Help! HELP! Sawyer! Somebody!"

Eda slapped him across the face with the back of her hand and then wrapped it around his throat.

"Shut UP!" She screamed. "Shut the fuck up! And quit fucking moving Rock, I'm not gonna kill you, okay?"

She waited some time, giving Rock the option to heed her command before she began to choke him out. Rock recognized the sensation. Unable to breath, he stopped his struggling and stared at his assailant with a horrified expression. Eda smiled back maliciously, savoring Rock's submission.

Eda bobbed the knife around in front of Rock's face as she worked herself in to a hostile frenzy. "You know Rock, I've been meaning to do this for quite some time, but I had to wait for the right opportunity. You made me wait, _so,_ so long. And I had to watch you, again, and again, _and again!" _

"You've been a real _thorn _in my side!" Eda slammed the knife down into the mattress beside Rock's head. "_For too god damn long." _He recoiled away from the knife, wearing a look of sheer terror on his face.

She inched closer to Rock's face. Now practically eye to eye, Eda continued, "I really didn't appreciate your meddling in the drug trade. You almost cost me my job Rock, and I have _a very important job Rock."_

Rock stammered, "I-I didn't know you had such a stake in things here, I thought you jus.."

"SHUT UP! You hinted that you were on to me back then, and you already know the goings on at the church, so save your breath, _and shut up._ I'll castrate you with this knife if you annoy me too much." Eda pulled it out of the bed, and pointed it in between Rock's eyes for emphasis. "Do we have an understanding, _mister Okajima?"_

Petrified, Rock stared at the point of the knife.

"Yep." He murmured timidly.

Convinced she had finally tamed him; Eda released her grip on his neck and rolled Rock onto his side. She cut away the ropes tied around his wrists. "You know Rock, I have many methods of extracting information from my captured prey, so you better not test me."

"And don't even think about leaving this room, at least not until _after,_ you've given me what I need." Eda followed her statement by cutting the ropes around his ankles, and rolling him onto his back.

She quickly straddled him again and violently jammed the knife into the drywall above the bed, frightening Rock again in the process. She sat on his stomach, took both of his hands in hers, and began to stretch each one of his arms out, this way and that way, alternating between the two. She even took the time to massage his joints, giving his hands and wrists extra attention.

Rock was still very much terrified of the woman who sat on top of him, but he was no longer suffering from a hangover, and he had her to thank for that. With a clearer head, Rock recalled his exploits during the last rampage of the murder maid and his dealings with the Rip-Off Church during that time.

_So I suppose I really did come close to revealing the puppet master here in this city. The Church may move a lot of guns through the region, but the fact that they could source large military vehicles in short time for the US soldiers was no coincidence. Eda has to be a member of an intelligence agency, or something of the like. I don't see Sister Yolanda being in on it though. Stirring the pot would inevitably bounce back on her and damage her business if she tried anything like that, especially now that she's moving drugs secretly, operating without the Roanapur hierarchy's approval._

Rock looked up at Eda, who was still focused on massaging him. He took some time to admire her features. He noted the curves of her body underneath her outfit, her very generous bust, and her pale, smooth skin complexion. Rock believed Eda had an elegance about her, almost an air of mystery, at least when she wasn't drinking hard or threatening his manhood anyways. The raging heat didn't seem to bother Eda at all, but her body wasn't immune to it. He watched as a bead of sweat began to form on her forehead, watched it travel down the side of her face, dripping onto her exposed neck. Her perfume completely overwhelmed his senses, some combination of cinnamon & vanilla, and something else he couldn't place. He inhaled it, savored it, as he continued to ponder what organization she belonged to. His eyes also continued to travel all over her clothed figure as well.

_Well, she's undeniably American, among many other... Things. I bet.._

"You're CIA, aren't you Eda." Rock blurted out loud.

Eda froze again, holding one of his arms suspended midair. Rock looked up at his arm and quickly realized his mistake

He pleaded, "Wait! I mean yo.."

Eda cut him off, "Rock, you don't need to say it out loud, ok?" She said, calmly. "And what's with your wandering eyes all of a sudden? Don't tell me some part of you is _enjoying _this treatment you sicko."

Eda gave him a playful squeeze with her thighs. She smiled down at him sweetly, and continued her massage. When Rock let out a deep sigh of relief, Eda smiled again, brighter than before. She wiggled her way further down his body, now straddling his lap while he laid flat. She began to unbutton his shirt, and fingered one of the bullet holes, observing it with a puzzled look.

"I never got around to asking at the bar last night, where did all of these come from? You don't appear to be shot." Eda ran her hands across his exposed torso, inspecting him for wounds.

Eda was only mildly surprised at Rock's physique. It was exactly what she had predicted. He had a toned body, not overly muscular, but defined, capable, and a bit on the thin side. He lived on his feet; Eda suspected that he exercised on the regular before he came to Roanapur. His body showed very few signs of the questionable diet and heavy drinking he partakes in regularly.

Eda's wandering hands settled on the boot mark on his chest. "Ha! Now I know where this came from."

Rock was at a loss for words, and the expression on his face mirrored that. He tried very hard not to get excited, as his crotch was now positioned directly under hers, and he could feel the warmth of her womanhood through their clothes. Her intimate presence was quite overwhelming for Rock, so much so that it took the words right out of his mouth. Her hands felt like they were live wires, pumping a low current of electricity through his veins as she examined him so personally. It was a feeling that Rock was not very familiar with, having a woman handle him like she was.

Rock also felt like his thinking was beginning to get cloudy. Following that realization, an odd feeling washed over him. It was like a chill running up his spine, but warm, hot almost, he could feel the warmth from his head down to his toes. Soon after, each and every sensation he could perceive felt drastically amplified, much more intense.

Rock thought it best to make no comment alluding to his condition. The state that he was in now wasn't exactly what he wanted, but he had already given up resisting her advances. He tried to think of Revy, tried to think of anything else other than Eda, but it was as if she had replaced his every thought with her presence. The steady rise and fall of her chest, the insistent warmth of her body on top of him, the sensation of her wandering hands which now massaged his shoulders and arms. Rock found himself no longer tensing up under her caress, though he still shouted out in pain when her arm brushed over the boot mark.

For Rock, the pain was so intense, it felt like she had poured a molten hot liquid into his chest cavity.

"Oo, _Sorry, _sorry about that." Eda remarked politely.

He knew for certain now that something was wrong with his head, that his thinking was not sound. His body reacted to her touch, sending back intensified waves of every sensation, amplifying every thought and emotion he had, bombarding his brain with a cocktail of voluntary and involuntary responses. Rock found the experience to be equal parts terrifying and exciting.

Eda put one hand behind his back and pulled on him, telling him to sit up and raise his arms. She took his dress shirt off and discarded it on the floor beside the bed.

She smiled again, and laid him back down gently, placing his arms down at his sides. She repeated her question, albeit in a more commanding tone of voice, "Where did all of those bullet holes in your shirt come from Rock?"

Rock felt like his very own will was being bent or pushed aside, as she asked the question. His mind formed the answer without his consent, he blurted it out in a monotone voice as soon as she finished her question.

"I, I actually don't know Eda. I would guess they came from the gun battle at the Lagoon building. These are my spare clothes, now that I remember, so yeah."

Alarm bells were ringing inside Rock's head, but strangely enough, the sensation of what would normally be a very severe panic, never fully came to him. He knew his answer was honest, very honest. It was the only possible answer he felt like he could give, the only answer he could come up with too.

"Okay, another question now." Eda said.

"Okay." Rock replied.

_I guess I somehow traded the ropes around me for a different kind. What is th.._

Eda bucked her hips against his, mashing her own sex against Rock's through the fabric of their clothing.

She purred into his ear, _"Do you think I'd be a good fuck Rock?"_

Rock shouted his response. "Yes! God yes! You would be, and you feel so good!" Rock paused for a moment. Taken aback at his own remarks, he blushed a deep shade of red. "But your outfit is awful, you should take it off. It's an insult to religious people, I think you should be ashamed." Rock blurted.

Eda broke out in laughter, bracing herself by putting both hands on his shoulders as she heaved, screaming out in glee. Rock didn't find it funny, but his shackled mind picked up on her energetic response. He halfheartedly chuckled along with her against his own will.

"Ohh you just don't quit _do you!"_ Eda smiled at him playfully, observing him out of the corner of her eye. She pressed her assets into his chest and whispered into his ear again. "You ought to know Rock, I have another outfit on underneath."

Rock turned his head and met her gaze with his own. His expression was one alternating between listlessness and deep embarrassment. He guessed correctly at what Eda would ask him next.

_"Do you want to see what I'm wearing under these robes Rock?" _She followed her murmured question with a gentle nibble on his ear.

_"Yes, _I do, Eda."

Upon hearing his response, Eda ground her hot crotch into his hardening cock. She letting out a small, triumphant moan when she realized she'd gained control of that part of him finally.

"Good to see I have his agreement too."

Rock wasn't lying to anybody when he had answered her. Eda wasn't exactly hard to look at, and he's certainly been doing lots of that lately. Even with his malfunctioning brain, Rock wasn't completely opposed to her line of questioning. He wasn't completely opposed to her touch either. Although he was very, very much opposed to not having complete control over his own thoughts.

_This is insane! Am I losing my mind?! Why did I blurt all of that out? I don't see how one drink could make me so loose lipped. It's getting harder to think coherently... If she orders me to fuck her, I don't think I'll be able to resist. Should I even try to?_

Eda got up off Rock and regarded him with a stern expression. "You are going to do exactly what I tell you to do from now on. Do not leave this room. Do not get off the bed. Do not even move more than an inch, and do not argue with me."

Rock remained on the bed, staring at her with a dazed expression, his mind was still very foggy. He watched the sway of her hips as she walked over and let herself into the bathroom. As soon as the door shut behind her, his eyes shot over to the hallway door.

Rock found out he was able to sit up normally, much to his surprise. He wasn't under some strange spell; he could move just fine on his own. It was her verbal requests, or more specifically, her questioning that he couldn't defy. Demands, orders, they didn't seem to have the same effect on him.

_Wow, talk about strange! Well forget this! I'm out of here!_

Quietly, Rock crept over to the hallway door. He could overhear running water in the bathroom nearby, further enforcing his decision.

_Now or never. _

As he reached for the door handle, Rock could hear a hacking sound coming from the hallway, the same sound a butcher's cleaver makes as it chops up larger bits of meat. He also heard the loud sound of a plastic trash bag being shaken open, and then a series of loud, wet thumps. Rock figured Sawyer was stacking those same bits of meat on top of one another as she bagged them up for disposal. He really didn't want to see that. He also realized she would likely tell Eda if she noticed him sneaking away. Either that, or saw him in half.

_Maybe I'll stay here then._

The hot afternoon sun flashed across his face as he walked back towards the bed, prompting him to stop and look towards the window. Rock saw a badly maintained road bordered by thick jungle growth. It was so thick that it nearly blocked out all light leading to the small parking lot filled with cars. He thought it was odd that many of them were American models. Rock understood that Eda was likely very close to finishing up, but he had to try. As he approached the window, he quickly realized there was no opening latch; he would need something to break it. His eyes went to the alarm clock and the flimsy lamp that sat beside it.

_No, those won't do. _

He came to the conclusion that there wasn't anything in the room that could do the job. He sat on the bedside, staring at the lamp, which was likely the best shot he had. If he failed and just caused a racket, Rock feared what might become of him. He glanced at the food on top of the dresser, then looked back at the nightstand. All of the other food and drink was sitting on top of it, along with the lamp and alarm clock.

_The nightstand! _

Rock made the mistake of bolting up off the bed, causing it to squeak. He grimaced, then looked over at the door. No sound, but it was still closed. He figured he had only moments until she reappeared, so he hastily began taking all the items off of the small table, placing them on the floor as quickly and as quietly as he could. When he finished, he lifted the nightstand and turned around. The bathroom door was still closed, so he cautiously carried the little table across the room, and positioned himself in front of the window. He practiced how he would throw it, adjusting his grip and making sure that the corner of the table top, the part he thought was strongest, was pointing toward the glass when he let go of it.

Rock felt a tap on his shoulder.

He immediately tensed up, but didn't panic. He sat the table down slowly, looking down at it with a defeated expression, accepting his fate. He knew it was Eda, he could smell her perfume again. She was standing behind him off to the side. A soft hand reached up to his face, pushing his head aside gently, directing his attention.

Rock's eyes met her legs first, and his expression changed in an instant. He marveled at lacy white stockings, that hugged toned, shapely legs. His gaze traveled up to the matching garter belt and panties, which he stared at for a moment too long. He observed how her pubic mound and her wide hips, stretched the fabric of her panties and the garter clips that held up her stockings. His blood ran hot as he continued surveying his way up her body, drinking in the lines of her well-defined feminine midriff. His face was bright red by the time he got to her chest. Her breasts strained at their lacy white confines, they looked very large, heavy almost, and he could make out the shape of her nipples through the fabric of her bra. Her whole body looked so soft, yet refined at the same time. Rock knew she had a fine figure, but he'd never seen her like this before.

Rock looked away soon after meeting her eyes. He felt he ought to be ashamed for looking at her like he did.

His response became fuel for a bonfire. Eda was beaming at him, she found his reaction to be endearing, sweet, and very innocent. It drove her mad.

"I've waited for this Rock, for so long. Ever since I first saw you show up in Roanapur. I didn't know why at the time, but I do now." Eda paused, walked up behind Rock, and took one of his hands in her own. "And now, you've given me _all the justification I need."_

Eda led him over to the bed and gently pushed him down to a sitting position on top of it. She then crawled on top of him, and shifted him onto the bed completely, straddling his waist once more as he laid flat beneath her. Eda melded her body with his, pressing herself into him to maximize skin contact as much as she could. She smiled at him sweetly, and began mewling indecent hints of what she was going to do to him into his ear. She moved down his body, licking and nibbling her way towards the waistline of his pants. She suddenly stopped, sat up, and began to grind her pubic mound against his knee, letting out a thundering moan of pleasure.

Looking down at Eda, seeing the sultry, wanton look on her face as she moaned, feeling her hands run up and down his thighs, Rock felt like a man on fire. His mental state only served to intensify it all.

Even through all the sexual stimulation, Rock somehow managed to conjure a moment of mental clarity. He remembered he was still very much a virgin, and more importantly, remembered he wanted Revy to be his first. While his body began to give in to Eda's aggressive advances once again, he tried very hard to think of his co-worker, his partner.

_Revy, I bet she'd actually kill me if she found out. I know we aren't exactly lovers, but sometimes I get the feeling she thinks of me as her property. I've wanted her for so long! But I'll never get to have that now, not if this continues. Revy and Eda, I guess they're both hotheaded, and quick to draw. Eda's almost always been polite to me, but Revy, she's never tried anything like this with me before. I wish it was.. Oh! Oh dear, now that, that is nice. Mmmm.._

Rock wasn't able to stay quiet. _"Mmmmm!"_

She was stroking his erection through the fabric of his trousers with one hand. Her other, had snaked its way up to his torso. She gently ran her fingernails across his body, causing his back to arch from the overwhelming sensation. Eda kissed at the skin above his belt buckle, pausing to lick him lightly, here and there. The feeling caused him to instinctually thrust into her hand.

Eda let out an approving moan.

Rock couldn't ignore Eda's touch, just as he couldn't ignore the implications if he went along with this. He had another moment of clarity, another second wind of control over his own thoughts. He wanted, needed, for Revy to be his first. Even with a temptress like Eda forcing herself on him, Rock really didn't want this to be his first time.

"Eda, I like you, but I-I, I can't do this! Revy would.."

Eda stopped her heavy petting and looked up at Rock. She had a vicious expression on her face and gave his junk a firm squeeze to drive her point home.

"The only way you walk out of here alive Rock, is by fucking me until I can no longer walk. And I don't want to hear you mention _that bitch_, for the rest of the day, Okay?" Eda crawled up the bed, and whispered into his ear with a sultry tone, "Or at least until you've filled me up, _two or three times. Then we can talk about our sins."_

Rock's eyes went wide. Every thought in his head was replaced with the mental image she painted for him.

Eda didn't wait for a reply, teasing wasn't going to do it for her. Not anymore. She needed him, soon. She figured she'd lose her mind if it wasn't soon.

Rock watched as she undid his belt and unzipped his pants. Bright red in the face, Rock looked away as she ripped off his dress shoes and pants. The only thing between him and Eda now was their underwear. His cock stood at full attention, tenting his boxers so much that it almost hurt.

Eda licked her lips. "Rock? _Ohhh Rock?_ I want you to look at me Rock. Look at me."

Rock's face was still beet red from embarrassment, though he managed to meet her eyes regardless of it. Eda had one hand behind her back and smiled mischievously at him. She unclasped her bra, and savored his reaction as her breasts suddenly hung free in the afternoon sun.

Rock was mesmerized by the sight before him, his heartbeat increased, making his cock twitch against the confines of his boxers and pat the inside of her thigh. Eda wasted no more time, she crawled further down him on the bed and grabbed ahold of his member through the thin material. She mumbled something to herself, which Rock didn't completely hear. He wasn't even in the same galaxy as his comfort zone, but he felt the need to speak up now. He figured he should tell her before they went any further.

"E-Eda? I have something I need to tell you."

"Oh?" She replied breathily, her attention laser focused on his cock. Her face was inching closer & closer to it.

"I uhh, I'm uhh... I-I.."

"Rock, really? Spit it out!"

"I'm still a virgin!" He shouted.

Silence filled the room. Eda stared at him with a delighted expression, though it quickly changed to a lascivious, almost crazed one.

"I was really, _really_ fucking hoping you would say that. Fuck!"

Eda released her iron grip on his member and pulled his boxers down, making his cock spring back up in the open air and thump against his abdomen. She muttered an aroused whimper and grabbed ahold of him again, with both hands. Now Eda was the one salivating. Cross-eyed, she inspected his cock head and breathed in his scent. She appreciated his neatly trimmed bush; she could tell he took good care of himself.

"_Goood lord._ Well you're definitely a grower, certainly not a shower, _wow."_ Eda cupped his large balls with her other hand. "And to think this is what you were toying with under those covers each night."

"Uhhm, what?" Rock said.

"Oh nothing." She replied, smiling suggestively.

"Wait, were yo.. Oh!"

Eda began to stroke his cock with one hand, starting off right away with a feverish pace. Rock watched the scene before him in awe. He was fully committed to what was happening now, consequences be damned, he was going to try to enjoy it, even though he had no say in it otherwise. His body reacted like never before, he bucked into her hands, and moaned loudly, not caring at all, not even if the entire world heard him.

Eda planted a firm hand on him, keeping him in place, and began licking his balls. Rock had never felt anything like it before, his own hands were all he was familiar with, so when she sucked one of his nuts into her mouth, he saw stars. She alternated between the two as she pumped his cock, swirling her tongue around each one, making sure to pull on them with her mouth as she worked them over. Eda wanted as much cum as she could get. The woman knew exactly how to go about extracting it.

Rock's cock was pulsing, forming a large bead of precum, which quickly caught Eda's attention. She released one of his balls with a loud pop, eliciting a pained groan from Rock. She licked, running her warm, wet tongue along the veins that ran around his cock, from the bottom of his shaft, all the way to the underside of his glans.

Rock let out a shout of ecstasy as the top of his cock was completely enveloped by her mouth. Eda sucked at him, moaning with his dick in her mouth, working her head down his length with a ravenous intensity. She took more and more of him with each stroke of her mouth, not bothering to come up for air even once. As Rock watched her nostrils flare, he felt something primal take over. One of his hands found the back of her head and he gently grabbed ahold of her hair, which, conveniently for him, was pinned up into a messy bun. Eda stopped, and locked eyes with Rock. With his cock positioned halfway in her mouth, she relinquished control of her head over to him, letting it sway freely in his grasp. Eda decided she would let him learn what it felt like to face fuck a woman. She braced her hands on his thighs just in case.

Rock started out with a slow pace, enjoying the sensory feedback he had never felt before. His pace increased steadily, and Eda made sure to tease his tip with her tongue every chance she could get. Each time she lapped at the underside of his glans; Rock increased his pace. She continued, making the mistake of letting him fuck her mouth faster and faster, eventually to the point where he overcame her strength. He held her head with both hands now, skull fucking her so hard that he filled her throat with his cock. He bucked up into her, gagging her, again and again, pounding into her until she began to choke. Eda finally pulled away with a guttural sound, sputtering, coughing. Rock watched as a large strand of spit stretched out from her lips to his cock, and gave way, falling onto her breasts and the bedding beneath them. Rock knew he had gotten carried away, he flushed a deep shade of red and immediately apologized.

"Eda! Are you okay? I'm sorry about that, I-I couldn't help myself."

Eda smiled salaciously, not bothering to wipe the spittle from her lips or the strands that hung from her chin. "Oh, _yes,_ I am ok Rock, _very _ok. The real question here is, will you be?"

_"Uhhh..."_

Eda sat up, positioning herself over his crotch, straddling him again. She pushed aside her soaked panties, revealing herself. She had a short and neat blonde strip of pubic hair that was damp with her juices. Her lips were a shade of soft pink, her clitoris was swollen, her whole vagina clearly glistened with her nectar. She was beyond ready. Eda rubbed the pulsing head of his member against her folds, lining him up with her slick canal, placing his tip just inside her entrance. Rock hissed, sucking air in through his gritted teeth. Her aching lips held him there, just short of what they both needed so badly. She didn't let him watch what she was doing for very long, as she quickly framed his head in her hands and kissed him, long and slow, moaning into his mouth. She teased at his lips with her tongue, gazed into his eyes, seeing if he would take the hint. He did.

As soon as their tongues met, Eda impaled herself on him, nearly taking him all the way to the hilt. The two let out loud, intense screams of pleasure into one another's mouths, causing Rock to be hit with another overwhelming instinct. His arms surrounded her in an instant, he began to violently thrust up into her, squeezing her ass, watching her ample breasts ripple and bounce in his face every time their hips met. She met his thrusts with her own, and the two accelerated their pace, rattling the bedframe, bashing the headboard against the wall, moaning wildly.

A mere thirty seconds later, Eda was the first to scream through an orgasm, blinking away blissful tears while she writhed on top of Rock. Her insides contracted around his dick, and squeezed him in fits, clenching and unclenching, matching her unhinged screaming. Summoning an unholy amount of gentlemanly restraint, Rock resisted the urge to release his piping hot cum inside of her. He hadn't been able to form any words as they cascaded across severe the waves of pleasure, but through it all, a part of him still wanted to make an attempt at staying on the safe side. Rock certainly knew he didn't have a condom, or any contraceptive for that matter. This whole ordeal wasn't exactly written on his weekly planner for the day.

Eda had collapsed atop him, head resting on his shoulder, chest heaving, body covered in a light sheen of sweat. Her core still twitched and clenched his manhood firmly. Rock's own privates twitched back in response, and since the tip of his erect cock was seated firmly against the entrance to her womb, she let out a yelp when she felt him.

"Eda," Rock gasped.

"_Rock... I've been so bad to you." _

"Uhh, heh, right. _Now uhm," _Rock swallowed the lump in his throat._ "Can I come ins.."_

_"Yes! PLEASE!"_

_"Okay!"_

Soon, they were completely lost in their mating again, racing from zero to one-hundred, aided by the designer drug Eda dosed him and herself with. It was her own personal blend of a top-secret drug, one meant to chemically coerce a subject into an involuntary mental state; a genuine truth serum. Eda considered what she was doing as a service, the drug was experimental, so she figured this was a hands-on clinical trial. She had blended it with a fast-acting powdered form of MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and even got it all approved by her handler back in the US.

Eda had squatted down onto his member, having taken his hands into her own for the extra balance. She was riding him steadily, trying hard to constrain her maddening sexual current, postponing another raging orgasm until Rock was ready for his own. She had her eyes closed and was completely focused on their sizzling point of contact. Feeling his member stretch her insides, she savored the fullness, and relished the squelching sounds her cunt made as she fucked him with a gentler pace. When the hallway door suddenly swung open, Eda didn't stop fucking, instead, she actually rode Rock a bit faster as they both turned their heads to see the commotion.

Sawyer walked in and shut the door. She was topless, wearing nothing but black leggings, and a considerably large blood spatter all over her face and neck. Some had dripped down onto her perky breasts in long streaks of dark red, contrasting against her otherworldly pale skin. Rock could see she was already very wet, and she appeared to have already been chasing a release of her own. A sticky film of fluid could be seen all over the insides of her thighs as she walked past the window. She smiled shyly at the both of them, and began to finger herself standing at the bedside.

As everybody filled the room with sounds of labored breathing, moans, and slapping flesh, Eda greeted their new guest.

_"OOHH!_ We have an audience now, _look ROCK!"_ Eda increased her pace, three-fold.

_"I see, Ahh-h-h-hello Sawyer!"_

She droned back at them, "Don't mind me. I like to watch."

Sawyer crawled onto the bed beside them and laid on her back. She began to finger herself with her legs wide open, her pussy in full view of the two of them. She inserted three fingers inside herself, and quickly made it abundantly clear to everyone in the room; she was a gusher. Eda couldn't resist, as she braced herself on Rock's chest with one hand, she reached over with her other and grabbed Sawyer's soaked fingers. The shy woman watched with shocked expression as Eda held the digits up to her mouth, licking, sucking on them passionately.

Sawyer used her other hand to rapidly resume where she left off. In no time at all, the cleaner was arching her own back, mouthing out one silent orgasm after another, flailing her legs in the air as she came. She finished her last climax in a fit of convulsions, thrashing about, covering most of the bed, Rock, and Eda in a shower of her own juices. The two fuckers fed off the energy of her forceful conclusion, groaning grotesquely as they watched her cum so violently. Eda released Sawyer's fingers from her mouth with a wet squelch. The thick scent of sex had been strong before their visitor came, now it was pungent. Rock figured it was so strong he could taste it in the air. Either that, or he had got some on his face. Sawyer looked deeply embarrassed. She silently scurried off the bed and out of the room before they could even say anything to her.

Eda hollered when the door slammed shut, her body couldn't wait any longer. The pressure building inside her had become too much for her to handle. Another powerful orgasm was right around the corner.

Barely able to speak coherently, Rock stammered, _"Th-th, that was, that was.."_

_"Something!" _Eda filled in.

Rock's attention span wasn't very cooperative at the moment. He was very preoccupied, being ridden rough, truly fucked. like it was his sole purpose now. Filling Eda up with his cock, filling her with his seed. He was going to bust soon, whether or not she was ready. His heart jackhammered away, and his hips raised to meet her thrusts each time, making damn well sure she bottomed out on him.

Rock's hands found their way to her breasts. He quickly discovered how sensitive her pink nipples were when he pressed his thumbs into her areolas. Eda's core constricted around his cock each time he stimulated her hard nubs, melting each of their minds even more. Her riding pace remained frantic, feverish almost.

Eda's expression was indecent, lewd. Pleasure and physical strain showed in her features as her face flushed a darker shade of pink. Sweat rolled down her face in beads, dripping onto her heaving breasts below, and then onto Rock.

She tried and failed at preventing another orgasm. The proverbial tidal wave had risen.

_"RRROCK! I need you to cum! Please! Oh fuck, PLEASE! OH, FFFUCK! PLEASE!"_

_"EDAA! UahhhFFUUUUCK!"_

Both of their eyes rolled back into their heads as they howled unintelligible words under the afternoon sun. Eda's back arched inhumanly, she screamed up at the cracks in the drywall above them like she was howling at the moon. Her feet and toes shook and pointed out like live wires, curling and kicking dangerously. Rock, being the smart man that he was, had quickly grabbed her by the hips and forced his throbbing cock in as far as it would go, blasting a livid flow of semen into her deepest parts. He dispensed an obscenely large load into her canal, filling her womb with so much semen that it seeped out her folds, forcing its way out around his still-throbbing member. He had fulfilled his purpose.

The chemically amplified climax ended up short circuiting Rock's brain though, as he lost consciousness only moments later. He was utterly incapable of processing the overwhelming sexual current that he just jacked into, for only so briefly.

**Five** hours later, Rock bolted up in bed. His head was under the covers, so his face met cool air as he tore the bedding off his body. He looked around, panicking a bit, soon realizing he was in his own apartment. The bed was clean, there was no evidence of any wild sex present on it at all. Rock appreciated the cooling breeze as the window mounted AC hummed along quietly. His clothes that Eda had plucked from him were nowhere in sight, and he felt clean, like he had showered very recently. He was wearing what felt like clean boxers too. He checked to see if that was indeed the case, also checking his private parts in the process.

Everything looked normal, no redness, no soreness, no smell.

_Well that doesn't make sense._

Rock wondered if what he had experienced was even real. He was starting to believe he had woken up from a dream.

_I could've sworn I just blew a serious load inside Eda a moment ago. What is going on? Did any of that actually happen?_

Rock finally noticed the sound of water running in his shower. He looked towards the bathroom door, worrying who it might be. Deciding to investigate, he got out of bed, shivering at the cold as he got closer to the door. The water suddenly quit running, making Rock panic. He decided getting dressed should be his first course of action, figuring that it would be odd to run away practically naked, if the need arose. He dressed up in his usual outfit, one of many identical sets of shirts and slacks. When he reached down to fetch a pair of dress shoes out of the neat row of spares, he noticed a plastic bag in the back corner of the closet. He was hit with a choking stench of day old sweat and grime when he peeked inside. He tied off the bag and tossed it over into the trash nearby, knowing exactly where it had come from.

_And here I was hoping it was a fever dream._

That was when another scent hit him; vanilla and cinnamon. Rock watched the steam filter out from under the bathroom door, carrying more of the heavenly scent into the main room of his flat. He picked up on the third scent finally, catching a stronger whiff of the faint undertones. Honey. Delicious, and so very, very sweet.

Rock was caught off guard when the bathroom door flew open, and again when Eda appeared, dressed in her skimpy pink top and green miniskirt. She lunged toward him, grinning like a madwoman. He backed up quickly, falling right onto his bed, frightened by her advances. She pinned him again, as she had so many times earlier in the day, and held his arms firmly in place above his head. He didn't resist her, but his expression was a cross between embarrassed and irate.

"Uhm, Hello Eda."

She cocked her head sideways; her blue eyes studied his.

"Hi." She replied, dropping the smile.

"Can you please, get off of me?"

Eda didn't let the disappointment show on her features. Instead, she rolled off, laying by his side on her back. They remained silent for some time, staring at the roof above. Both of them were still processing what had happened earlier, though Eda had gotten more time to think than he did. She had done plenty of thinking over the past few hours.

Rock spoke up first, deciding a mundane question would be best to break the ice.

"So, uhm, how did I end up back here, exactly?"

Eda rolled onto her side to face him. "Sawyer helped me with that, she came back afterwards and finished sanitizing the room across the hall. We used her box truck she hauls meat in for, well, _you know."_

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"She helped me get you cleaned up too. Oh hell, we had quite the time getting you here, customs insisted on inspecting her truck on the way into town."

Rock felt outraged finding out that his own personal privacy was invaded so seriously. He quickly corrected himself though, realizing the error in his thinking.

"Wait, where was I exactly? I thought it was a cheap motel room." Before she could reply, Rock felt emboldened and continued his line of questioning. "Actually, can you tell me why I was there first? Seriously, what the hell was that Eda."

She mentally kicked herself for letting that slip. She figured she'd lose her job right quick if she kept up like that. She calmly placed a hand on his chest and began to trace patterns in his shirt with her finger.

Eda looked away as she replied. "Let's just say for the sake of simplicity, that you were in a cheap motel room Rock. You were there because you had to be. And about your thinking.. ehh.. well..." She trailed off.

"About my thinking?" Rock was growing upset, impatient too.

Eda met his angry gaze with her own, a genuinely distressed one.

"I had no other choice." She replied, frowning.

"What? No other choice? What is, wait, what is that even supposed to mean?"

"I don't want you to hate me Rock. I really," She sighed. "I really don't want you to." She repeated, quietly.

"Right, okay then Eda. Then I don't suppose you can explain why _we bred_ _like filthy pigs either, _can you."

She had already been expecting words like that, though they stung nonetheless.

Offended, Eda took a guess, she replied, "You should know, _it takes two to tango Rock."_

She hit the nail on the head. It shut him up real quick. Rock hasn't had enough time to process it all, he hadn't truly started to yet; he was afraid to.

They laid still again, side by side on their backs, silent.

Eda replayed the afternoon's events in her head, quickly feeling a pleasant twinge below the belt. She turned herself onto her side, facing towards him again, resting her head on her hand. She smiled softly and quickly extinguished the thoughts, figuring now was not the best time.

Rock tried very hard not to replay some of the events himself; he failed miserably. A blush soon found its way onto his face. He had to conjure some serious mental strength as he began to feel blood running south.

In an effort to distract his wandering mind, Rock decided to go with idle chatter again.

"Your scent, your perfume I mean, it's different from what you normally wear."

"Oh?"

"I guess I like it."

"You guess you like it?" Eda asked.

"Yeah."

Eda smiled. "Wow."

"What?"

Eda started giggling, which then evolved into loud, full-blown laughter.

"What?!"

"You sounded like you were on to something there Rock, a proper compliment for a lover, or so it seemed." Eda let out a sigh and draped an arm across Rock's chest, hugging him gently. "Don't let Roanapur rub off on you too much. People like you _are_ good for this city Rock."

"I don't know what to think of that." He replied, somberly.

Eda started tracing her fingers across his torso again, following the lines of his body through the fabric of his shirt. "You make people feel good Rock."

Rock smirked and raised a brow at that.

"Oh, ha ha." Eda replied sarcastically.

Eda rested her head on Rock's shoulder, and stared out of the window, unknowingly settling her trance-like attention on the same dilapidated building Rock was fixated on. The two laid there for a good ten minutes, neither one speaking. Rock had quickly grown to enjoy Eda's presence. He had relaxed some more and breathed in deep, savoring her scent. Eda continued her caressing.

"You know that huge guy that you get your shaves and haircuts from?" Eda asked.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"I've seen the way he acts after you pay him. You give him a tip, right?"

Rock replied, "Well, at first I thought it would be a good idea. I figured he would slit my throat if I didn't."

"He stands up a bit straighter after you do that Rock. His face still looks the same, but he seems proud. He knew he had a good customer, a good one, not just a satisfied one. I think he believes he actually earned his keep when a man like you is paying him."

Rock had no further comment. He didn't believe in a word she said about him. His mind had already wandered to what happens next. A severe sense of shame washed over him, he could feel it in the pit of his soul. His actions were his, he felt like he should have a good reason, some excuse or some other nonsense, but he didn't have any. The gravity of what he had previously done with Eda finally set in.

_Oh my god... Revy... I wanted you..._

His facial expression changed to a hallowed one. Then it cycled through and settled somewhere between depressed and morbid. Eda had been watching the gears turning in his head, watching them twist up his face, she saw the guilt and shame cut him deep. She believed he looked close to crying now. She knew why.

He had mumbled Revy's name not long after he went under.

Eda didn't want him go through a mental breakdown, so she egged him on, focusing his turmoiled mind in a different direction. At her.

She wanted to keep him from despairing.

"You're gonna have to lie to her Rock." She said.

Rock's mouth formed a deep frown. He began to scowl at her.

"_Oh_ don't look at me like that, it's not that hard to do." She assured him. "You know, some of the greatest men in history were actually liars Rock! You shouldn't be bothered by it so much."

"_You're sick,_ Eda." Rock tried to shrink away from her and get up off the bed.

She grabbed him and wrapped herself around him, she wasn't letting him.

_"Okay okay!_ Easy now, calm down Rock_." _

Rock didn't fight her, though he did refuse to meet her gaze. That irked her still, even though she had no right to be.

"Rock,_ I'm sorry.." _She hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder. He could feel her warm breath on his neck.

"I'll tell you what Rock, you pour me a drink, and I'll share some valuable information with you. You have my word. That oughta cheer you up."

Rock perked up immediately, all hints of the psychological hole he was digging for himself were gone from his face. He sat up, got off the bed, and offered a hand to help her up. She took it, smiling politely. He walked over into his kitchenette and began prepping their drinks as Eda sat at a table nearby. He grabbed some fresh ice cubes out of his freezer and dropped them into two small drinking glasses. Rock then produced a large bottle of Jack Daniels from a kitchen cabinet and poured it 'til the glasses were full. Eda bit her lip, grinning playfully when she recognized his choice of drink. Rock sat on the other side of the table with his drink and handed hers across.

She teased, "You really want that information, don't you?" She accepted the drink.

"Mhm." Rock replied, sipping his own drink. He rested his head on one hand and stared at her expectantly.

Eda, surprised at his behavior, fought a blush from creeping onto her face as she started sharing her information.

Rock was eager for a better explanation than the one she gave him before, though he soon realized the information she was sharing was much more valuable then what he had hoped for. Eda went on to detail the attackers during their job for Mr. Chang. She started talking about some Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender, refused to ceasefire at the end of WW2. Rock had never heard of them, but he listened intently. She explained how there was a similar group of Vietcong who refused to give up their guns at the end of the Vietnam War, a small portion of them having disobeyed their superiors, escaping into the jungle. They went on to make their own tunnel systems and branched out into raiding nearby waters. She divulged that her employer has been trying to rout them for years. They've been unsuccessful in their efforts, Eda supposed it was due to their base of operations being so hard to infiltrate. She joked about it being like HQ back home, but in a jungle, underground, most likely made out of shit and dirt instead.

The complex was heavily protected by the criminals and AWOL soldiers that flee from nations in the region. Their numbers have only grown larger in recent years. The Vietnamese government has even gone so far as to classify them as terrorists, they want them gone as well, but finding operatives willing to try infiltrating a place like that was hard. Those that did never came back. She detailed how the fringe group of VC kidnap and torture US travelers and tourists, how they'll even pick fights with small vessels that resemble anything remotely American made. Rock mulled over the information, sipping his drink slowly.

"Why are you telling me all this, instead of Dutch?" He asked.

"Well, that's because I'm curious to see what you will do with the information Rock, that's all. I swear." She smiled halfheartedly. "Oh, and don't think you can go and share my identity with a single soul. I _will_ kill you if you do."

Rock frowned and nodded his understanding.

Eda noted the time on the wall clock in his kitchen, mentioned it, and abruptly stood to leave. She thanked him for the drink. He thanked her for the information, nothing more. He walked her towards the door and held it open for her with one hand. Eda stopped next to him.

"You know, I changed it for you Rock." She said, smiling softly.

"Changed what?"

"My perfume. I knew you'd notice."

"Oh?" He replied, drink still in hand.

"I wanted you to remember today, remember it every time you're near me." She grabbed his collar and pulled him close, smiling as she kissed him sweetly. "And for the record, _it's actually body oil." _She gave his free hand a squeeze before she turned to leave.

Rock was disgusted by her first remark, though he managed to hold his tongue. The second remark went straight to his groin. He kissed her back, somewhat reluctantly.

_The woman oozes sexuality in all the worst ways._

He watched her walk down the hall and disappear around the corner into the stairwell. Rock shut the door quietly and eyed the clock on the wall. He now had time to himself, time for his thoughts. The urge to smoke weighed on him heavy, so he promptly searched around his apartment to find a pack of cigarettes. He figured he had to have a pack somewhere.

He had none.

**END Chapter 5**

**Well! **_That happened. _I thought hey, why not throw Sawyer in? She didn't _really_ participate, so no harm done right? And yeah, I know, I wrote Rock as a virgin, but I thought it fit him ya know? Anyways, I am considering removing the author to reader dialogue at the beginning of each chapter. I'll keep disclaimers at the top though. I think I'll save most of it for here after the end so it doesn't interrupt the flow of chapters as much. If you don't like it, you can skip it entirely when you get to here. Next chapter will not have any snu snu, so don't worry! This fanfic won't turn into an orgy in print. **Thanks for Reading!**

What I'm listening to while I write: Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix, What Kind Of Woman Is This by Buddy Guy, Romance by Hiroshi Suzuki, Summer Nights by Lonnie Liston Smith, Dress Down by Kaoru Akimoto, BDE by Your Old Droog, and finally, Soon as I Get Home by Faith Evans.


	6. Chapter 6 Show Thyself Approved to God

**This **is a work of fiction. I own nothing and all credit goes to Rei Hiroe and all respective publishers of his works. This is a fanfiction and a transformative work that is not intended to infringe in any way on the original creator's and publishers' works. Rated M in case you missed it. **Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 6 **Show Thyself Approved to God

The same night Rock went missing, Benny and Dutch went on to spend an hour driving around looking for him. While they searched, the two made multiple calls using their cell phones, questioning their associates and local businesses Rock frequents whether they've seen him or not. To them, Rock had practically disappeared into thin air. When Benny went up to check on him, he found Rock's door closed with the light still on inside. After letting himself in, he found no evidence of any struggle and no real clues as to where he might've gone. However, Benny did notice that Rock must not have changed his clothes, as there wasn't a single piece of dirty laundry in the man's apartment. After waking up and questioning some of Rock's neighbors, Benny returned to the GTO and consulted Dutch. The two men were certain he'd been kidnapped again. Benny deduced that he couldn't have gotten far on his own in such a drunken state. Dutch hadn't noticed any vehicles pass by while he waited. All nearby parked cars remained in the same spot between the time they arrived and the start of their search. Revy added in her two cents, making sure to screech drunken insults at the vacant seat behind hers. They all came to the conclusion that it was most likely a professional behind the abduction. The two men looked at one another, both understanding they'll likely never see nor hear from their friend again, probably not until the captors wanted them to, or god forbid, not at all. Exhausted, they finally returned to the office and laid Revy out on the couch, propping her up on her side in case she started to vomit. Neither Benny nor Dutch got anywhere close to a decent night's sleep. Revy slept like the dead.

The next morning was spent making calls on Rock's whereabouts, readying the Black Lagoon for its next job, periodically checking on Revy as she slept in until the afternoon, and eating delivery pizzas for breakfast & lunch. The men of Lagoon Company had gone through three six-packs of beer and nearly seven of ten pizzas as they worked, leaving discarded evidence of their meals around the office and workshop.

Dutch was finishing up the last few touches on the Lagoon, which now sported a new arsenal of mounted weaponry. All of the guns and gear he wanted to install were in place, minus one final piece. Dutch had started on it the evening prior, right after Eda delivered the first shipment of weapons and munitions for him with her deuce and a half.

One Browning M4 autocannon sat on a pedestal mount affixed front-center on the bow. With a full 360 degrees rotation, 75 degrees vertical movement, firing 37mm high explosive tracer shells or armor piercing tracers at two-thousand feet per second (610m/s), no small aircraft or medium size boat was safe within a mile of the Lagoon.

One modified Mark 50 Rocket launcher - a rack of 8 five-inch general purpose rockets, was newly attached to the right foredeck a short ways behind the Browning autocannon. It was folded inwards towards the boat; in its stowed position it was incapable of firing remotely. Dutch finished attaching a homemade blast protector behind the tubes. Out of all the additional firepower, it was the rockets that made the man nervous. Knowing they sit directly in front of a live torpedo and vent their back blast out of their launch tubes, Dutch wasn't about to take any chances. He didn't mind autocannons and machineguns, but he figured someday those torpedoes would blast him into the afterlife. He didn't want to make that day come any sooner than it had to.

After calling Benny down to brainstorm and consuming more pizza, the two of them managed to manufacture their own powered hydraulic dual 50cal mount after an hours' worth of work. They attached it to the rear turret ring that remained on the rearmost hatch since WW2. The mount they built could've been attached to either hatch, as the front and rear ones both have the same ring, yet Dutch chose the rear-most one. It was in a central location above the Lagoon's most sensitive parts, halfway between the engine compartment and the control rooms he and Benny occupied. After attaching two Browning M2HB machine guns and testing their rotation and vertical movement, the two men celebrated by knocking back another couple beers and shooting down some trees on the other side of the port.

Satisfied with their results, they practiced removing all of the ship's new armaments and stowing them below deck. After several tries, the two of them could remove all weapons and stow them in two minutes time. They used a small electric winch to help with lowering the large autocannon and fifties below deck, then stowed the rockets in-tube, paired in groups of two. After reattaching the armaments, they finished up moving spare boxes of ammo and other munitions into the forward crew quarters for storage. They acquired 3,000 rounds of ball and tracer 50cal ammo, 113 rounds of 37mm HE ammunitions, 17 rounds of 37mm AP-T, and six custom made limpet mines on the first shipment from Eda. Those were intended to be used with the diving gear they have yet to earn back their investment on. Dutch resumed work on the Lagoon alone, suggesting Benny continue calling around for Rock and to check Revy for life signs.

Upon returning to the office upstairs, Benny smirked and shook his head at the sight before him. Sprawled out all over the couch, Revy, having mastered the art of sleeping through her hangovers, also managed to sleep through the gunfire and racket down in the workshop. Benny resumed making calls. Even with no leads, he knew Rock wasn't worth giving up on. He figured he'd be lying to himself if he started to believe they'd all be fine without him.

Revy was having a fever dream of her own, a wild and confusing combination of the previous couple days' worth of events. She began mumbling to herself in her sleep. When her dream reached the events that transpired on her walk to the Yellow Flag with Rock, everything took on an oddly sexual tone in her mind. She began moaning out loud, howling Rock's name repeatedly.

At first, Benny jumped up from his desk out of fear, believing Revy had woken up and was having a meltdown for whatever reason. When she began to writhe, arch her back, pant, and shout Rock's name, Benny had to fight hard to resist laughing out loud. With his cell phone pressed to his ear, Benny walked over to the window overlooking the workshop and opened it. He continued speaking with the person on the other end of the line.

"Sorry about the background noise. As you can proabably hear, his wife is in mourning over the whole situation."

Dutch was disassembling a large wooden crate beside the Lagoon when he overheard Revy's condition.

"What in the..." He looked up at Benny in the open window.

Benny grinned and held up a hand, shrugging his reply to his boss. When he finished speaking with the man on the phone, he microwaved a couple pieces of pizza, figuring he might as well eat now while he could. If the day somehow turns into another shit storm, it's much easier to handle on a full tank. The chances of evil coming to their doorstep was a certainty with Rock being missing. Food and beer, that's what he needed, that and a solid lead.

Revy was still asleep and very likely unaware of what was going on. Dutch wasn't about to go and wake her up himself, he had to finish prepping the Lagoon for her last armament, that was his excuse. He suggested Benny should try and poke her with a stick, or toss something at her from across the room. While they both really needed her input on the situation, they decided to take the calm while they could get it. Working on the Lagoon with Revy all riled up would not have been conducive to their productivity. She was snoring like a freight train now, limp and lifeless.

Benny decided to take his time eating more pizza. He sat across from Revy and enjoyed the herby blend of cheeses while sipping a beer. He continued to ponder Rock's whereabouts, recalling the night in his head for the thousandth time and still coming up blank for a lead. He helped himself to the last few pieces of stuffed cheese pizza. That's as close to Kosher as he could get in Roanapur. Most of the time he cooked for himself, often having to pay a premium for ingredients or have them shipped in from overseas which was just as costly. He certainly was not living in a city that catered to religious laws or customs. Benny observed the remaining boxes of pizza, quickly realizing a better plan of action for rousing his co-worker.

He downed the rest of his beer as he got up off the couch, then proceeded to microwave a paper plate piled high with meat lovers and pepperoni pizza. He grabbed a fresh can of Heireken and carried it along with the pizza over to Revy, making sure to tread lightly as he got closer to her. He placed the pizza on the coffee table, then leaned a bit closer and cracked the can of beer right next to her face, waving it around under her nose.

No result.

Benny picked up the plate of pizza and was just about to repeat the action before he stopped himself. He realized it would be best to err on the side of caution. Before he tried again, he decided to walk around behind her, as he didn't want to be the first thing she saw when she woke up. Her reactions towards him when he gets on her nerves are usually quite violent. As Benny shuffled his way around, he stubbed his toe on the base of the couch and fumbled the plate of pizza. He swiftly regained control of the plate, managing to lose only one piece.

It was one too many. Benny watched in horror as the steaming hot slice of pizza fell directly onto Revy's stomach. It made a plopping sound as it stuck to her. He promptly tossed the plate of pizza on the coffee table and ducked behind the couch. After a few moments he peered at her over the armrest. To his surprise, he was met with another thunderous snore. He stood and set the open beer beside the pizza on the coffee table, then very cautiously, slowly, as if defusing a nuclear weapon, he peeled the piping hot piece off her belly and wiped her off with a napkin.

One eye shot open on her face. Caught in the act, Benny's face turned white as a sheet. He froze in place with the piece of pizza dangling in one hand, staring at her with a bewildered expression. Revy just yawned and stretched her arms above her head, oblivious to what just happened.

"What have you gave up on being a Jew now Benny?" Revy yawned once more. "What's with the meat 'n' cheese all of a sudden?"

"Uhhh I sure was thinking about that! Yeah, yep, that's it. Hey I warmed you up some pizza! And here's a fresh beer for ya, was going to drink it myself but I've already gone through plenty already." Benny replied, nervously.

Revy grabbed a piece and scarfed it down hastily, her stomach urging her to make up for two missed meals. Two of three slices disappeared in a matter of seconds. She spoke with her mouth full.

"Wellhm, alrigh then. I gotta say it's fuckin' weird you preparin' me breafas though, what's the occayion?"

"Uhhm, _well,_ I think it would be best if Dutch was the one to bring you up to speed."

Benny took his cell with him and made for the door down to the workshop. He wasn't going to stick around to see her response when she looked in the mirror. He also wasn't going to tell her the news, he figured he'd already fulfilled his task by waking her up, and believed making calls from his post in the Lagoon would be a safer location than where he stood now.

_"Oookay,_ _whatever_ Benny. Where ya going?"

Benny tensed up and stopped in his tracks when she spoke. "Uhh, down to the Lagoon, gotta finish up something. It's actually very important and we're expecting some return calls, so take the landline with you, if uhh, you go into the bathroom. And make sure you do actually check in with Dutch when you're finished."

Revy shot him a hostile glance. "_Fuck off Benny!_ I heard you the first time."

_"Okay will do."_

Glad to have a way out of the conversation, Benny made his exit quietly down the stairs, giving Dutch the piece of pizza and a brief explanation of what just happened. He scurried off down the pier to the Lagoon and let himself inside, resuming his work from the safety of his room.

**Revy** inhaled the last piece of pizza and heated herself up two more. As she gulped down her beer and started on her second plate of food, she wondered why Rock wasn't around.

_Normally he'd be the one waking me up after a night like that. He must be out doing the rounds for Dutch again. Wait, I'm supposed to be with him if that's the case... Eh, probably got sick and had to go visit the doc again. He's such a lightweight, that's the third time in a row he's lost to me, the idiot. Wait a minute..._

Unbeknownst to Revy, Rock had been telling the guys to go along with her if she claims victory the morning after. She usually blacks out before they get to the end. Rock had noticed her shoddy memory after one of their past drinking contests and figured if it made her happy, he'd lie just a little bit if it got her to smile again the next day.

_Why the fuck can't I remember who won? Must've been one hell of a.. _

Revy spied the almost empty bottle of Bacardi sitting on the liquor shelf across the room.

_Woah, yeah it was!_

Revy finished her last piece of pizza and let out a loud belch. She wandered over and grabbed another beer, then kicked the fridge shut behind her. Shortly afterwards she came down to the workshop and stopped next to Dutch. He was busy cutting oblong strips out of a wooden panel using a corded reciprocating saw. Two separate halves of the crate he broke down earlier sat off beside his work area, affixed together along their edges with brass hinges. When he finished making his last cut, Revy spoke up.

"What's going on Dutch? Benny said you needed to talk to me. And where's Rock? Don't tell me you sent him out to collect alone again."

Dutch set the piece of plywood down beside the crate pieces, leaning it up against them. It had four distinct cuts made in it, equally spaced out across its length, with hinges on the bottom edge. He turned towards Revy and walked up to her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. Revy's eyes went wide with worry.

_No.. no.. no... Is he? _

"Revy, I have bad news, and, good news, I guess." His somber tone of voice didn't help with her rising anxiety.

_God dammit you better not have drank yourself to death trying to beat me in some fucking contest! Rrrrr I'll murder every shithead in that bar if you did! _

"I'll give you the bad first."

_No.. no..._

Revy looked up at her boss with an expression of severe worry etched into her features. She actually looked scared. Dutch had never seen that look on her face before. It even scared him, seeing her like she was now.

"Rock?" She asked, quietly.

_NO! NO! Please..._

Dutch frowned, concern for his employees evident on his face. "Yes. We dropped him off at his apartment last night, and, well, we think he's been kidnapped."

Revy's expression shifted into violent mode rather quickly. "You, you think? YOU THINK!?"

Dutch tightened his grip on her shoulders a bit. "Hold on now, don't go losing your shit just yet Revy! Take the time to listen, for his sake."

"Are you fucking SERIOUS?!" Revy exploded free from his grasp, frightening Dutch with her sudden inhuman strength. She settled down immediately after though, down to an eerie level of calmness.

"So Rock's been kidnapped again. Huh. That's too bad. Who do I need to kill Dutch. Who." He recognized her expression, the thousand-yard stare, her tone of voice, the eyes of a soulless killer. Whitman fever he calls it.

"We've got all of our feelers out okay?" Dutch held up his hands in a calming gesture. "I know staying put isn't in your nature, but Rock would be doing the smartest thing he could right now if it was one of us in his shoes, so try and snap out of it Revy. Calm down."

The Whitman fever didn't subside, though she did relax her shoulders a bit. Dutch figured that was progress.

"We spent an hour last night driving around looking for him. Benny questioned his neighbors and didn't come up with anything. We've been calling everybody and their mother, most haven't seen or heard a damn thing about him. We're monitoring the phones now, waiting for return calls, that sort of thing."

Revy stared psychotically up at her boss. "Just tell me. That's all you have to do. Tell me who I need to ki.."

The high-pitched ring of the landline up in the office snapped Revy out of her murderous trance. The same shocked, worried look flashed across her face for a moment. She turned and bolted for the office. Dutch shook his head in disbelief, seeing her act that way for someone was one hell of a sight. He figured Rock would be dead or beat to shit by the end of the day, whether it would be from his abductors or by Revy, time would answer that question. Dutch never got the chance to tell her the good news. He figured it could wait for a bit. Revy took the steps three at a time, pulling many muscles along the way and painfully agitating her wound, she kicked the door open and ran to the ringing handset. Snatching it off its base, she tried hard to take on a plain tone of voice, tried to force herself to calm down and sound polite like Rock when he answered his calls. Her usual what the fuck do you want, yo, or call back later asshole, certainly wouldn't make the situation any better for him if he was still alive. Revy knew that much.

"This is Lagoon Company, to who am I speaking with?" She said, calmly.

_Wow, that was actually pretty... decent?_

Eda broke out into hysterics. "BAHAAHAAAA! What the fuck?! Revy? Is that you?!" She asked.

_I swear I'll fucking kill her! This slut picked the wrong fucking time to call!_

Eda sat naked on the bed beside Rock. Having finished her interrogation while he was unconscious, she decided she would stir the pot and give her friend a call. Rock had revealed many secrets, many involving herself and even more involving Revy. The drug she gave him allowed her to continue speaking with him while he was sleeping, without any of the troublesome mental resistance and half-truth answers he would try to give if he was fully conscious.

"Oh god! That is the fucking best!" Eda continued her raucous laughter. "Did you lose a bet? Or wait,_ did Rock finally teach your whore mouth some manners, hmmm?"_

Revy's grip tightened on the handset. _"Fuck you,_ Eda! FUCK YOU! I'll GUT YOUR FAT ASS YOU BITCH!"

"Whoah, whoah! _Easy now Revy,_ calm down, I'm not calling to tease you, I'm calling to let you know I've got Rock here, he's all safe and sound. Dutch and Benny called earlier leaving me messages to call them back, I figured now was an appropriate time to do just that."

Revy let out a breath of relief, knowing that her friend was very capable of keeping him safe for the time being. When she realized what it really meant, her voice took on a severe, dangerous tone.

_"Eda... What did you do to him?"_

"_Oh nothing..._ nothing too painful anyways."

"EDAAA!"

"Christ! Okaay!" Eda laughed. "Relax Revy, I'll tell you exactly what I did to him." Eda paused.

It was a moment too long for Revy. "SPIT IT OUT!"

Eda chuckled. "Okay, okay, I get it. Just promise you'll hear me out ok? Remember my fucking job?! And remember how I told you I'd make a move on Rock if you didn't?"

She went on to detail how Rock had gotten close to figuring out her true identity. It happened back during the last violent eruption in Roanapur, the one brought on by Rosarita Cisneros, the Bloodhound of Florencia. Rock requested the church's services, hoping to execute a plan he formulated to shut down the drug trade, or at least harm it somehow. Eda was aware of his plans, though she had not expected him to have her figured out, not in any way whatsoever. It was a shock when he stopped her in the street and asked her about it. She just warned him off the subject at the time, though his actions had inadvertently made him a threat to her safety, unbeknownst to Rock. Technically he's been a threat every day that's passed since. If somebody who isn't in the same program, somehow discovers a covert agent or operation, they're usually dealt with relatively quickly if it's not going to cause an issue. She explained more to Revy, about how her employer has certain policies in place for a situation like that.

"Revy, I really didn't want to hurt Rock, so just try and understand that I had no other option. I mean, I could've punched his lights out until he talked, _waterboarded him_ until he tells me what I need to know, or, I could casually fuck him senseless until he passes out. _So,_ I decided to fuck him Revy. Sue me. Oh, and I administered a little remedy to loosen his tongue beforehand, _and that's all."_

Revy had been clutching a cutlass in her other hand with a death grip while she listened, deciding she'd get even with Eda somehow later on. She understood the implications for Eda, yet she was still somewhat outraged over the situation. Not near as much as she would've been if Eda had actually chose to beat him or torture him though. Revy began to chuckle at the whole situation like a lunatic, partly because she was overcome with immense relief as it started sounding better for Rock, and partly because she half expected Eda to do something like that. She holstered her gun and grabbed another beer from the fridge, her chuckling growing louder by the moment.

Eda continued, "I wasn't about to try and match his wit in a one on one setting, in fact I'm quite sure I couldn't. Hey what the fucks got you so cheery all of a sudd.."

"That's all?!" Revy busted out into wild laughter. "Why, why do I get the feeling there is more to the story then, _oh my fu.."_ She howled through another fit of noisy laughter. "More to the story than what you're telling me!"

"Oh you want _those details_ huh?" Eda teased, tongue-in-cheek.

"You can bet your lily-white ass you bitch! Uhhgh, I was going to make a fucking move on him soon you know! You didn't have to... well.."

"I did actually."

"Oh shut up! Now out with-it sister."

Eda filled her in, making sure not to withhold even the slightest bit of detail. Then going on to share everything Rock had said under the influence of the serum, most of which brought Eda closer to him, strangely so. And although it was quite the unethical approach, it gave both women honest answers to the questions they've been unable to ask him directly. Each of them had to hold their phones away from their heads a couple more times, lest one of them lose an eardrum to the back-and-forth shrieking. They ended up agreeing on a truce over Rock. Then they came up with a plan for handling him. It all hinged on how Rock manages each of them in return. That would dictate the two ladies' course of action. Revy decided against telling Dutch and the others he was ok, partly at Eda's request, and partly because she wanted to know if the info Eda told her was actually true. If it was, Revy knew she wouldn't have another opportunity like this ever again. Whatever Rock did next, she hoped he handled it like he would have before, with his shitty, high moral standards and unforgiving honesty. She wagered it all on him doing exactly that.

**Rock** had taken it upon himself to mope on down to the corner store near his apartment and stock up on cigarettes. He burned through half a pack on his walk out of town towards the Lagoon building. The sun was setting again, casting a purple, blue and pink glow onto the earth below. Rock never even noticed it. His mind wasn't in a great place, hadn't been ever since Eda left his apartment.

_I can't believe I did that with Eda, I wanted Revy to be my first. I can't believe I just let it happen... Oh my god... I'm, I'm sorry? Does that even begin to cover it? I'm a monster now. I fit in now, fit in this awful, nasty city. I guess I deserve whatever Revy has in store for me... But I'm afraid. And I don't want to die. I can tell her now and get it over with, or I could put my death off for another day and lie. I could tell her I got sick and needed the day off!? But I haven't called in yet! I should call in before I show up! SHIT! _

Rock nearly fumbled his cell after swiftly pulling it out of his pocket. He opened it to find five voicemails, two from Benny, two from Dutch and one from an unknown number. He listened to the ones from his Boss and co-worker first. Their words sounded warm and concerned. He knew it was a privilege to have co-workers like them. After listening to the next ones, he had to stop and rest on the bridge guardrail. They started out asking him to call them back just like the previous messages, then went on to say strange goodbyes to him in case they never heard from him again. Benny made a comment about how it won't be the same with him around. Dutch said he would've liked to teach him how to drive the Lagoon. Rock was beyond flattered, beyond grateful for them. He couldn't ask for better people in his life. It made the situation he was in now all the more humbling. Rock held his head in his hands and played the fifth message. What he heard made his blood chill. He could hear himself, speaking monotone to Eda as if he was hypnotized. He recognized that tone of voice.

"Lee."

"Repeat that for me." Eda demanded.

"I love Rebecca Lee."

"Repeat that." She said.

"I love Rebecca Lee."

"Repeat that."

"I love Rebecca Lee."

"Who do you Love?"

"I love Rebecca Lee."

"Repeat that."

"I love Rebecca Lee."

"Hey Rock, I figured I'd just give you a call, thought you might like to hear this." Eda paused. Rock heard soft talking in the background, then a door shut. "Now, time for the next question."

"Do you want to fuck me? Or Rebecca Lee?"

"I want to fuck both of you."

"Repeat that for me."

"I want to fuck both of you."

"Repeat that."

"I want to fuck both of you."

"Repeat that."

"I want to fuck both of you."

"Oh, and Rock? This is my number by the way. I know this is rather forward of me, but I'd like do this again with you, _minus the spiked drinks."_

"Do what?"

"_No not you,_ the future you."

"What?"

_"Nevermind."_

The voicemail ended. Rock was incensed.

_She drugged me! Was that why I couldn't resist her questioning? I could've... I should've... This doesn't change things, does it? I need to tell Revy about what I did with her... No. No! I can't! Well, I need to tell somebody! Damn that nun to hell! Do I really need to tell Revy though?! Dammit! Dammit!_

Rock soon realized it really didn't really matter now. He wouldn't likely live to see the end of the day. He wouldn't lie to her, couldn't anymore. Rock turned around and glared at Roanapur with a look of hatred on his face.

He dialed the landline at the office and quickly stopped himself. He wanted to get a second and third opinion from the guys before he made his decision. Rock called Benny's cell instead, since he usually answers on the first ring. With his luck, Revy would answer the office phone. Rock wasn't ready, not yet.

_I can't lie to Revy, not after what we've been through. I've tried to change, tried to be like the manipulative filth that run this awful place. I couldn't manage to do a damn thing before, but this? I screw her one and only friend?! I've never been more ashamed... I'm so sorry Revy... _

His psychological hellhole was being dug by Eda's hand, Revy's hand, and both of his own. Rock hadn't even noticed he'd wandered into the center of the road. He was staring up at the noose hanging on the bridge, waiting on his friend and co-worker to answer. Benny picked up on the third ring.

A truck horn blared.

**END Chapter 6**

**I** **figured** the two people in Roanapur Eda said know her true identity are sister Yolanda and Revy. I don't believe Rock really knew about her until the events of the OVA called it to his attention. If you have any questions, as long as you're signed in when you post a review, I will get back to you. That is unless I plan on explaining it somehow in the next chapter. I read all reviews and all my PMs. I updated the cover image for this fic and thought, man, wouldn't that be funny if that's all I did? Story's updated! Cya! Anyways, this is all I've got this time, I know it's shorter than usual. I'll have to do something about that next chap. **Thanks for reading!**


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